In a Cat's Body
by Hawk wing
Summary: COMPLETE A routine watch turned wrong. Kakashi and Neji end up trapped as cats and now they're being hunted by the person that changed them. Will they be able to convince their friends it's really them, or will they be caught and never seen again?NOT yaoi
1. Chapter 1

**EDIT 3/23/2008: **for those just starting this story...since they just had to no longer accept dashes and what not for line breaks...i have to go back and manually add in new line breaks for every freakin chapter i've posted...that's over 30 chapters...so if u spot anything that's wrong please tell me...although i don't think anything should go wrong lol

**summary: **A routine watch turned wrong. Kakashi and Neji end up trapped as cats and now they're being hunted by the person that changed them. Will they be able to convince their friend's it's really them, or will they be caught and never seen again?

okily dokily (yes i said that lol) this is a lil story that i'm jus writing on my down time while my brain is getting over being fried from a MAJOR writer's block on my other story Frozen Chakra and Herbs...as is apparently custom to my long stories **:rolls eyes: **the first few chapters (usually 2-3 chappies) will be a liiiiitle slow but that's cuz i gotta give the setting and transitional stuff blah blah blah lol but if u like this and think i should keep writing it then by all means say so in a review and i'll happily continue this story : )

Disclaimer: as stated in chapter 13 of frozen chakra...if i owned naruto then it wouldn't be as far as it is now because i would've had major writer's blocks lmao

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lil info on the meaning of names in this that u'll need to kno by the second chappie : )

Kuroi- black, Kiri- mist, Sayuri- little lily (yes all japanese lol)

It had been a normal, low A-ranked mission for both Team Gai and Team Kakashi. They had to stop at a village and bunk in an inn before continuing back to Konoha the next few days.

"Gah, I'm hungry," Naruto complained. "Do you think they have any ramen here?"

"I doubt that they would be able to keep up with how much you eat, Naruto," Sakura replied.

The blonde just grinned.

Neji looked around warily. Something had caught his eye in this village when he had activated his byakugan a mile away. It darted out of his vision's range before he could actually get a better look at it.

Kakashi noticed his small searches and slowed his pace to walk beside the younger jounin. "What's wrong?"

"I noticed a strange, something, earlier when I used my byakugan. It came from this village and it wasn't like chakra, but it wasn't anything human either," he replied quietly.

Kakashi looked at the boy who was almost the same height as him. "Is it something we should check out?"

"It'd most likely be best if we did," the Hyuuga responded.

Kakashi nodded slightly and made his way over to Gai. Remaining casual, he told Gai of what Neji said while the others were distracted by Naruto and Sakura arguing, well actually, Sakura beating the shit out of Naruto for something he said again. Neji saw his sensei nod and Kakashi wandered back over to the boy.

"We're going to go check this out while Gai remains with the others and checks in at the inn."

Neji nodded slightly and the two moved away from the group.

Lee saw them leave, "Gai-sensei, where are Neji and Kakashi-sensei going to?"

"They're going to go check out something that caught the Hyuuga's young eye," the man replied.

Tenten, Sakura, and Naruto all sweat dropped.

"By "young eye", do you mean a girl or something he saw with his byakugan?" Sakura asked cautiously.

Gai laughed. "Our Neji has never had a woman catch his eye."

The teens all looked slightly disgusted.

Naruto barely spat out what had crossed all their minds. "Then, is he, you know…gay?"

Gai looked at all of them with a thoughtful look. "I don't know the answer to that."

Neji and Kakashi walked into a small side alley and Neji activated his byakugan.

"See it?" Kakashi asked quietly.

Neji didn't reply as he continued to scan the medium sized village. After another 30 seconds the strange energy caught his eye. "Not far, 357 meters to the east of us."

He deactivated his byakugan and they both set off towards the spot of the strange energy. When they got close to where Neji said the thing was, he activated his byakugan again and led them towards another small side alley. When they looked down the little gloomy walk space they saw a figure crouched down near a wall. Neji stopped the chakra flow to his eyes and nodded at Kakashi. They both remained on guard as they walked near the person. She saw them approaching her and smiled as she looked up.

"Hello," she seemed to purr as she stood up. "May I ask how you found me?"

"We felt a curious chakra flow so we decided to investigate," Kakashi replied casually.

The female smiled, but it held mischief. "Really? Well, I don't have any chakra," she waved her hand and Kakashi and Neji felt something fall upon them. They couldn't move an inch as the dark skinned and dark haired woman came near them and circled them, "But I do have a power unlike yours."

She came to a stop in front of both men. They would've asked what she did to their bodies, but they couldn't even move their mouth. No matter how much they tried to look around, there was nothing holding them, nothing at all in the alley except them and the woman.

"I bet you're wondering what I did to you, aren't you?" she pouted playfully. "It's nothing much, just a little spell, or that's what you humans would say."

She smiled and came near Kakashi and breathed in his scent and smiled more, "A torn heart that is nearly dead. Quite nice in my opinion."

She then walked over to Neji and placed her hand on his chest. If he could shiver, he would've at her touch. The woman smiled again. "A heart that is as solid as stone. Quite a catch you two are," she said as she circled them once more.

Coming to another stop in front of them again she said, "I believe a cat would be best for you two."

They looked at her in confusion and she raised her hand, muttered a few things under her breath that they didn't hear, and stepped forward. First she touched Kakashi in the middle of his chest then touched Neji in the middle of his chest. At first nothing happened then they felt it. It was like a slight tugging inside them and soon their joints began to hurt. If it weren't for the spell that the woman had placed upon them, they would've been doubled over from the pain. She watched as what little movement their faces could make contorted into agony.

"Now, this won't do. Let's see what your body will do out of pain, but I can't having you make any noise so I'll just keep that part under my control." She lifted her hand again and both men fell to the ground by their own willpower and instantly curled into a ball from the pain. Their eyes were shut tight and if she hadn't kept their voices locked up, they would've been screaming loudly.

Slight popping could be heard from their bodies and Kakashi felt his hands starting to curl in on themselves. When he opened his eye slightly he saw that what were once human hands, were now curled like an animal's paw. His back gave a great lurch as it started to uncurl from the human's normal shape into an arch.

Neji felt like his head was going to explode behind his eyes. Even a small amount of light that came through his closed eyelids hurt like hell. An insane urge to itch came all over his body as his bones continually re-shaped themselves.

The female stood there and watched as the bodies of both guys were slowly getting smaller and hair started to cover every inch of skin. Even though it felt like an hour for the guys, the change was only 5 minutes long. Once their bones stopped hurting and the pain from their back eased, they remained on their sides, barely conscious and breathing heavily. Only pinpricks of pain came from here or there and soon even those started to subside.

Kakashi felt weight on top of his body and when he opened his eyes he saw faint light filtering through something like cloth. That something moved and soon that woman's face appeared above him, but it was larger than he remembered. She smiled.

"Looks like your change was good."

He couldn't fully register what she said as what little grip he had on staying conscious slipped and he fell into a deep sleep.

The woman smiled and walked over to the clothing pile that belonged to Neji. She shifted around his old clothes and found a black cat lying in the middle, already unconscious. Carefully, she reached down and opened one of his eyes. She was most curious as to how this boy's eyes adjusted to the change from man to animal. When the eyelid was lifted the third eye automatically covered most of the eye, but she barely saw a dark cat's pupil with the palest of gold iris she's ever seen.

The woman smiled. "Looks like your change was good too."

She picked up Neji, who was now a large black cat, and walked over to the pile of clothes and picked up Kakashi, who was now a large white cat with a silvery sheen to his coat. They were both out cold and hanging heavily in her arms. She smiled more broadly and started walking. She was only in another alley when she stopped and looked to her side with a faraway look.

"Can't those idiots do anything on their own," she mumbled. The dark skinned woman laid the two cats on the ground gently and disappeared.

Sayuri had been delivering bread all morning and decided to take a short cut through an alley. She was only halfway through it when she spotted the two animals that were like ying and yang lying right beside each other. They were large for cats and well muscled. Sayuri crept quietly closer and looked down at the two.

"Hello?"

They didn't move, not even a twitch of an ear. She leaned down, keeping her basket draped over an arm and poked one of them in the side. The cat didn't respond. She looked into the faces of both of them. The one that was silvery looking had a scar going across its left eye.

'How odd,' she though to herself. 'Oh well, might as well take them home with me.'

She reached down and picked one up and draped it across her shoulder and carefully picked the other up and draped it across her other shoulder.

'These two are a lot heavier than they look.'

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if u'd like me to continue this then tell me in a review, if not then why the heck did u bother to read this? j/k lol

p.s. i don't make Neji gay in this jus in case ur wondering


	2. Chapter 2

ok as i have stated in the first chappie...these first few chappies will be slow cuz of transitional stuff and setting stuff and i jus needed filler chappies and i sux at writing humor when i'm in a good mood...dunno why lmao but believe me...my other two stories (pale eyed boy and frozen chakra) are much much much more faster (that's many many many many LOTS faster) and that this is jus to give my mind a break **:steam floats out from ears: **

o yea..bout forgot...i'm posting 3 chapters in this today because of the slowness...after the 4th chapter it picks up...promise lol

legend:  
_"blah blah blah cookies!"_ is the cat's (neji and kakashi) talking to each other

'yadda yadda yah chocolate!' is someone thinking to themself

"wassssuuuuuuuuuuup!" is jus normal talking

disclaimer: me no own naruto

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Kakashi felt consciousness come back to him and he stretched then froze halfway through. It didn't feel like his normal stretches. Opening his eyes slowly, he saw a rumpled up quilt. He then looked down at his body and nearly died of a heart attack. Looking at what were his hands, he stretched what would've been his fingers and he felt the claws come out from his feet. He then looked at the rest of his body. It was a cat's body. Looking around frantically he saw a large black cat starting to stir next to him.

"_Neji?"_ he said.

Kakashi was more shocked because it came out as a low, deep, muffled meow.

Neji heard a low meow say his name and opened his eyes and looked in the direction of where it came from. There was a large silver-ish white cat looking right back at him. One of its eyes was a deep blue while the other had a purple tinge to it. The one with the purple tinge had a vertical scar going across it. Neji looked quickly at his own body and froze.

"_Kakashi-sensei?" _he asked looking back at the white cat.

The other cat's head bobbed slightly in a nod.

"_What happened to us?" _Neji continued.

"_I don't really know. The last thing I really remember is that woman's face looking larger than I had thought and I heard her say something of "change was good" or something like that."_

"_Change?! She changed us into cats?!"_ Neji shouted quietly.

Kakashi looked just as shocked. _"I believe so, and you've actually got pupils."_

"_I do?"_

Kakashi nodded that weird nod again.

"_Where are we?" _Neji asked.

They both looked around. There was faint light coming from windows on one wall and also from a large skylight in the ceiling. The side windows looked out over smaller houses as the sunset was nearly gone. Kakashi stood up then fell onto his side.

"_Are you ok?" _Neji asked.

"_Yeah, just lost my balance."_

Neji tried to get up too. Once he was standing he took a tentative step forward. He felt his body start to get unbalanced so he stayed where he was until it was regained. Kakashi got up and tried walking too. After a while they were traipsing around the bed with an occasional stumble. Kakashi decided to get off the bed. He crouched on the edge and jumped down. When his feet hit the ground he stumbled, but remained standing. Neji dropped down next to him. On the floor a wave of smells hit their noses and they blinked slightly because it was starting to overwhelm their noses. After a minute they walked over to the door and peeked out into a hallway. A new wave of smell hit them and their mouths watered. It was a delicious smell. Kakashi was the first to step out into the hallway. Neji followed cautiously as well. Humming came to their ears and they followed it and the smell towards one end of the hallway where light was streaming from. When they came to the end they looked out into a living room. It wasn't very furnished with a large, low table, an armchair, and a comfy looking couch. They then looked over to the other end of the room and saw a kitchen where a girl was cooking at the stove. She seemed to be in her early twenties. They stood and watched her for a little bit. She continued humming as she stirred something on the stove. It smelled even more delicious and soon the guys' stomachs were growling.

"_Do you think we could trust her?" _Neji asked quietly.

Kakashi did a cat shrug. After a minute of thinking on it, he slowly stepped into the living room and walked towards the kitchen. The girl looked up from her stirring and smiled broadly.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up. Where's your buddy?"

Neji crept up next to Kakashi and the two were slightly crouched near the ground, ready for anything.

The girl saw their slightly wild looks and laughed. "You've got nothing to fear from me. I found you lying in an alley on my way home and I couldn't leave you two there so I brought you back with me."

Kakashi and Neji exchanged side glances.

The girl realized something, "I bet you two are hungry aren't you? I don't have any cat food, but I bet you'd like some milk." She went over to one of her cabinets and got out a shallow bowl. She then walked over to her fridge, poured some milk into the bowl and walked towards them. They backed away from her. She smiled again.

"I don't bite, it's ok," she crouched down and placed the bowl on the floor then went back to her stove.

Kakashi crept towards the bowl and started smelling it. Neji followed suit. They weren't fully used to their heightened sense, but they also didn't trust the woman and kept an eye on her as she watched them.

"_Do you smell anything?"_ Kakashi asked.

"_No."_

Sayuri laughed as she heard the two low meows from the cats. "It's almost as if you're debating on whether or not it's poisoned. Here," she grabbed a small cup from another cabinet and walked over to the bowl. Kakashi and Neji backed away quickly, Neji falling over his back feet and landing on his side. Sayuri laughed again and dipped her cup into the bowl, showed them the milk in it then drank all from the cup. "See, it's not poisoned. Drink up," she went back to the stove.

Kakashi waited until Neji got up and they both went over to the bowl. Slowly they started licking at the milk like they remembered seeing cats do. The liquid was good and cold and their stomachs started growling more so they lapped up the milk as fast as they could.

Sayuri laughed again and turned to her food. Once it was done, she sat at the dining table and watched as the two opposite colored cats sat near each other, sometimes emitting a soft meow.

'It's like they're talking to each other. What strange cats,' she thought to herself.

"_What are we going to do? The others are probably going to be worried about us," _Neji pointed out.

Kakashi sighed. His brain was fried from trying to figure things out. _"If there was any way of getting to them. Maybe they would recognize us."_

"_Kakashi-sensei, this isn't a genjutsu. I don't even feel most of my chakra anymore and besides, how would they recognize us. My eyes have pupils now and you don't have a red eye. Just a blue one and a slightly purple one."_

Kakashi looked back at the empty bowl wishing for more to fill his stomach. _"I don't know what to do, Neji."_

They both looked at the girl. She got up and took her plate to the sink and then walked past them down the hall. After only a minute she returned back to the table holding a well worn notebook and a pencil. She sat down at the table and opened the book to the middle.

"_Do you think she's trust worthy?" _Neji asked.

"_I don't know, but it's probably worth finding out since we might be stuck with her for a while."_

Kakashi stretched his new body and walked over to the table. The girl didn't look up. He crouched down near one of the empty chairs and jumped up into it. He then looked above the table and hopped up onto it. The girl looked up.

"And what do you think you're doing, mister?"

Kakashi flattened his body quickly against the table and his ears went to the side as he waited for a blow to come from her, but when he looked back up at her she was smiling.

"I'm not going to hit you, silly."

Kakashi brought his ears forward as he looked into her eyes.

"You've got pretty eyes," she said when she saw them.

Kakashi slightly uncrouched and crept forward.

The girl remained where she was watching him calmly as he crept near her, his eyes never leaving her face. She watched as when he got close, he stopped and started sniffing, trying to catch her scent. She started to move her hand towards him and he crouched down quickly again, waiting for a hit.

"You poor thing, you were abused when you were younger weren't you? I'm not going to hurt you," she brought her hand slowly down near Kakashi.

He leaned forward, his eyes never leaving hers and he took in her scent. She slowly moved her hand and he watched it warily, but she moved slowly and remained relaxed and he felt her place her palm on the middle of his back.

"See, I'm not going to hurt you," she said as she slowly started petting him.

At first Kakashi remained tense, but soon he relaxed and laid down on the table, comfortably.

Neji saw him relax and decided he'd join as well. When he jumped up onto the table, he crouched down and watched her. She only smiled at him.

"You can come over here too. You've got pretty eyes as well. I've never seen such a pale gold."

Neji looked at Kakashi's half lidded eyes and walked forward tensely.

Sayuri saw his glance at the white cat. "You must be the older of the two," she said to the silver cat.

It looked up at her and nodded slightly. The girl's eyes widened a bit.

"You can understand me?"

The cat just stared at her.

Sayuri stared back for a bit then shook her head, "I must be seeing things. It has been a long day."

She continued petting Kakashi and looked down at her notebook.

Neji sat next to his superior, _"Nice going, you almost blew it."_

"_At least I didn't reply to her question," _Kakashi replied with a small sigh as he laid his head down.

Sayuri looked at the black cat that was staring at her then at the silver-ish one that was laying half asleep by her arm. "You two need names, but what?"

Kakashi sat up and she saw his fur sparkle slightly in the light.

"I think Kiri would be good for you," she said as she petted his head.

She then looked at Neji who just looked emotionlessly back. They sat staring at each other for a while and finally Sayuri sighed.

"I can't think of anything right off for you so I'll just call you Kuroi."

Neji just blinked at her.

She smiled and said a little louder, "And I'm Sayuri! We can be a family, if you two decide to stay with me." She rubbed Kakashi's head again and went back to looking at the book. After a while she picked up her pencil and began writing.

Neji scooted closer to it and sat next to Kakashi who just laid there watching. They were reading what she was writing.

"_Seems like a story," _Neji commented.

"_Yup."_

Sayuri looked up at the two who exchanged a couple sounds with each other. "Now don't go commenting on my bad penmanship. I know I'm not that good, besides this is just a little hobby of mine," she looked back at the page. "I've always loved to write and daydream so I just started writing stories one day and this is my newest one. I'm almost done with it. So far I've written 3 long stories, but I'm too embarrassed to show them to anybody," she grinned up at the two.

They looked back at her with no emotion.

"Well, you two are a lively bunch." She reached out towards Neji. He crouched down a little bit, but let her touch his head. Sayuri smiled and started petting him. "See, that wasn't so bad."

Neji had to agree that her scratching his back with her nails did feel good. He slightly closed his eyes.

"Gai-sensei, where's Kakash-sensei and Neji?" Naruto asked worriedly.

The green beast of Konoha looked out at the fading twilight. "I don't know."

"Maybe we should go look for them?" Sakura asked.

Gai looked back down at the 4 teens. "You four go in groups of two and I'll remain here incase they return."

The teens nodded and instantly left.

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now on to the next chappie


	3. Chapter 3

you still reading this?? you rock!!

do i really have to repeat the legend?? nah i'm gonna let u remember it lol but fyi its stated in chapter 2

dis: me no repeating

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Kakashi and Neji woke as the morning sun hit their face. They were sleeping on the couch in Sayuri's living room. Sitting up, they realized that it wasn't a nightmare and they were still cats.

"_What are we going to do?" _Kakashi mumbled.

Neji yawned revealing sharp teeth. _"Do you think Sayuri-san will give us something else other than milk? That didn't last very long last night."_

"_No it didn't. Maybe we could try and convince her to give us whatever it is that she's eating this morning."_

Both boys looked at each other sadly.

"_Are we ever going to be human again?" _Neji asked quietly.

Kakashi had never seen this boy with any emotion other than determination, but now, sadness and worry were filling his face. The white cat looked down, _"I'm not sure."_

Footsteps came down the hallway and they looked up to see a still sleeping Sayuri walking towards them.

She saw the two on the couch and smiled. "Morning," she croaked out.

They just watched as she stumbled towards the kitchen and started making coffee.

"_I really don't want coffee," _Neji grumbled.

Kakashi smiled. Even though this was the first time he's heard the aloof boy grumble, he didn't say anything and jumped down.

Sayuri saw the white cat walking towards her. 'I bet he is the leader of those two because he's always the first to check things out although that other one's a little too stuck up in my opinion,' she thought to herself as the large cat walked over.

He walked through a patch of pale sunlight and she smiled. "Your fur really is shiny, Kiri."

He sat down near her and looked up into her eyes. She stared back. Slowly, she gave in to the slight puppy dog look he was giving and opened the fridge.

Kakashi looked triumphantly back at Neji. _"Working with dogs pays off."_

Neji jumped down and trotted over to the fridge and joined the two there. Sayuri watched as the two cats looked over the stuff on the shelves. Kakashi saw a packet of sliced ham and he jumped into the fridge and grabbed the packet in his mouth and started tugging on it. Sayuri sighed and pulled the packet out for them and waited till they were out of the way before closing the door. She looked down at both the large cats looking somewhat hopefully up at her.

She laughed and shook her head. "I swear, if looks could kill, you two would've long since melted me." She took down two plates and placed them on the floor and placed a few pieces of the ham on each. Both Kakashi and Neji started eating fast.

She laughed. "I suppose that milk didn't last long?"

Kakashi swallowed and said, _"Nope,"_ before taking another bite.

Sayuri heard the white cat's meow. "I'll take that as a no."

"Hello?"

Both boys whipped there heads around towards another set of stairs that led down.

Sayuri saw them tense up. "Oh, cool it, that's only Emi-chan. I own a bakery and it's downstairs. She's my best friend and helper. I'm up here, Emi!"

A girl with red hair popped her head up from the staircase and smiled saying, "Coffee ready?"

Sayuri shook her head.

"Holy cow, those are big cats! Where'd you get them?" Emi asked when she saw Neji and Kakashi crouched on the floor watching her warily.

"I found them in an alley yesterday. They were unconscious so I brought them home."

Emi started to walk towards them, but the boys hunkered down closer to the floor with a glare.

"Oh, cut it out for Pete's sake," Sayuri said. She knelt down next to Kakashi and picked him up.

He wasn't so sure about being held let alone brought towards this strange new girl and started wiggling to get out of Sayuri's grasp.

"Cool it," she said as she held him tightly to her body. When he stopped wiggling, she walked over to her friend. "This one I call Kiri. He's the most outgoing of the two."

Emi petted Kakashi and he tensed up at her touch. "His fur's so shiny and it's not white but silver. I wonder what type of cat he is."

"I dunno." She walked over and placed Kakashi back by his plate and grabbed Neji by the scruff of his neck before he could run. She held him tightly to her body as well as she brought him over to Emi.

"This one is a little stuck up acting, but he follows the white one around. I couldn't think of a name so I just call him Kuroi."

Emi petted the tense Neji. "His fur is so thick and soft!"

"Isn't it?" Sayuri said smiling as she placed Neji back by his dish.

The black cat shook and remained crouched tensely by the plate while saying to Kakashi, _"I never want to go through that again."_

"_I would have to agree to that."_

Emi stared at the two more as they watched her. "It's like they're talking to each other."

"I know it's so weird huh?" Sayuri said while she poured two cups of coffee.

"Are you going to keep them?"

Sayuri looked back at the two crouching cats. "I don't know. I'd like to, but I get the feeling that these aren't normal cats so I'm leaving it up to them to decide on whether they'd like to stay or not."

"It'd be awesome to keep them," Emi responded.

Sayuri shrugged then started walking towards the downstairs steps. "Let's get started."

"Ok," Emi replied taking her coffee from her friend's hand.

Neji and Kakashi wandered through town later that day. They had convinced Sayuri that they had wanted out and as they looked back at the little bakery, they saw her sad face.

They both walked side by side in silence in the alley, since too many people on the streets were giving them weird looks for their height and eyes. Kakashi's coat also caught a lot of attention. They only stood near the knee of an average woman, but that was huge compared to normal cats.

This town was the same one they were in yesterday so they slowly made their ways over to the alley that they saw the woman in. When they got near it they heard talking. Quickening their pace, they crept into the shadows with Neji on the outside and Kakashi in between him and the wall to hide his coat.

"…leave behind." That sounded like Sakura.

The two cats looked around the corner and saw their teammates standing around the spot they were in yesterday.

"I know. It is odd that all their weapons and clothes are left here," Naruto said quietly.

"_Should we tell them?" _Neji asked.

Before Kakashi could answer Gai looked up at the 4 teens and said, "This needs reported to the Hokage immediately, but one of us should stay behind. Even though it's risky, Sakura, can you stay behind?"

"Yes, Gai-sensei."

"Good, your youth filled spirit will find them. The rest of us are reporting back to Konoha."

"Hai-sensei," the 4 responded and three of them disappeared, leaving Sakura standing alone in the alley.

The two cats stepped back around the corner.

"_Should we try and convince Sakura-san who we are?" _Neji asked quietly.

"_I don't know. I doubt she'll recognize us since this isn't a genjutsu. For now, let's get back to the bakery. Sakura will remain in this village and when the others come back we can try to convince them who we are then."_

They looked around the corner and saw Sakura walking away onto the street. Sadly, they walked to the spot where they were last human and sat down in the same exact spots, both lost in their own thoughts. After a while they got up and set off towards Sayuri's house/bakery.

Sayuri looked up and saw one of her normal customers. "Good morning! I've got your favorite bread fresh from the oven," she said smiling at the elderly lady.

The woman smiled back. "That's good. How have you been dear? Any new changes?"

Sayuri smiled. "I'm doing just fine, but I might have found me a couple house mates, if they decide to stay."

"Oh, really? Where are they?"

"They're out wandering around, but I'm hoping they'll come back soon," the younger girl replied.

"I hope they do. Are you charging them rent?"

Sayuri laughed. "Well, I can't really charge them rent since they really can't get a job."

The elderly lady frowned in confusion. "What do you mean?"

Sayuri saw a flash of silver and looked out the front door. "There they are," she said smiling and walked over to open the door.

Kakashi and Neji stepped in and looked up at Sayuri.

The girl smiled down at them, "I'm glad you decided to stay."

"Oh, my, those are big cats. Are you sure they're even a domesticated breed?" the elderly lady asked looking in shock at the two opposite colored cats.

Kakashi put on a small smile and walked over to the lady and rubbed against her leg. His height reached up to her knees. The lady smiled and reached down and petted Kakashi. Neji remained by Sayuri and watched the little charade emotionlessly.

"That one I call Kiri because his fur always looks like it has mist on it, and this one," she said looking down at the black cat sitting by her feet, "is Kuroi. They've got opposite colored fur, opposite attitudes, and the silver one is the one in charge."

Neji flicked his tail in slight irritation. He was getting annoyed with Sayuri saying Kakashi was in charge, even though the older man was his superior.

Kakashi saw the slightly irritated look. _"Come on, Neji. We've got to act like cats, besides, she hits the good spots with her scratches."_

Neji looked away emotionlessly. _"I'm fine."_

Kakashi laughed slightly.

The two women looked between the two cats.

"How interesting," the elderly lady mumbled when the cats seemed to stop talking to each other.

"Hey, they came back," Emi said walking up front with a loaf of warm bread. She placed it carefully in the elderly lady's basket who thanked her kindly and bent down for a last pat on Kakashi's head.

After she left Sayuri shoed the two up the stairs saying, "cats really shouldn't be down here" and so the boys were left to explore the house by themselves.

* * *

yes Emi is a japanese name, we had a japanese foreign exchange who knew another japanese foreign exchange by the name of Emi and also it was on a japanese female name site lmao (plenty of japanese eh?)

in the next chappie Kakashi and Neji run into that dark skinned woman that turned them into cats...fyi: whenever i think of this woman i think of yoruichi (bleach) in her human form lol now onto the next chapter plz!! **:puppy dog look: **


	4. Chapter 4

now if you're still reading this then you get a year supply of extra chocolaty, chocolate chunk, chocolate cookies

o shiza!! did i say when this takes place in the naruto world?? bet not so fyi: it takes place during shippuuden : )

* * *

"_Why didn't you join me, Neji?" _Kakashi asked, stretching.

"_There was no need to," _was the cool reply.

Kakashi just smiled and wandered off to one of the closest rooms. Standing up on his back paws, Kakashi was barely able to pull the handle down and the door opened quickly at Kakashi's weight. They both looked in and found just a spare bedroom. Some snooping revealed nothing. They left and went into another room. This one had different ink paintings and many wall hangings with poems written on them in beautiful calligraphy.

"_I bet Sayuri-san was the one who made these," _Kakashi said looking up at one.

Neji didn't reply.

Kakashi saw a worktable and jumped up onto it with ease and snooped around. There were many different size ink brushes hanging by a cored on a little stand. Different colors of dried ink were in clear, covered dishes. Blank wall scrolls were lying on the table.

"_I was right, Sayuri-san did make these."_

Neji jumped up on the table beside him. _"I wonder where she learned such writing styles."_

"_It is elegant writing that the aristocrats use, no?" _Kakashi asked looking mischievously at the black cat. _"Or, shall I say, aristocats."_

Neji ignored him and jumped down, walking quietly out of the room. Kakashi just shook his head and followed the aloof cat out. The next room they explored was Sayuri's (since the bathroom was just a bathroom). Neji was already snooping around on the nightstand when Kakashi entered the room.

"_Find anything interesting?" _the white cat asked.

"_No."_

"_What about inside those drawers?"_

Neji leaned over the edge and pawed at the top drawer's handle. Kakashi came over and helped him. After a while they managed to get it open.

"_What's in it?" _Kakashi asked.

"_It looks like that notebook from last night."_

"_Why don't we read it, since we've got nothing better to do?"_

Neji looked a little irritated at Kakashi, but gave in since there really wasn't anything to do. The black cat pushed the drawer open and leaned into it, taking the edge of the notebook into his mouth. After a little tugging and coaxing, he got it to fall out of the drawer and nearly on top of Kakashi, who dodged it. Neji jumped down beside the other cat as he opened the book to page one. They started reading. It was hard for them to flip pages, but they managed it. They both sat there reading all morning and well into the afternoon. When evening came they were just about done reading it, but Sayuri had caught them by surprise.

"What the hell are you two doing?!"

The two cats turned around quickly and saw a shocked Sayuri standing in the doorway. She walked over and quickly picked up the booklet and fanned through the pages, looking for damage. She didn't see any and looked down at the crouching cats. Throwing the notebook on the bed, she reached down and picked them up by the scruff of their necks and carried them out of the room. Even though it hurt a lot, they didn't say anything. Sayuri placed them on the dining table and stared at them both. They were crouched down and looking up at her, but without fear which confused her even more.

"Answer me this one question or I'll beat it out of you, can you understand me and can you read human handwriting?"

The two cats looked at each other.

"_Should we answer, since that is two questions," _Neji asked.

Kakashi looked the other in the eye. He could tell Neji was going to follow whatever it was he decided. The white cat sat there thinking.

"Well?" Sayuri asked.

Kakashi looked up at her and nodded his head.

She stared at him. "You can understand me."

A nod.

"And you can read?"

Another nod.

She stared at them. After a while she said, "How?"

The two looked at each other again.

"_I don't think it'll be wise to tell her we used to be human and how we were changed. She's barely believing this and besides, how would we tell her?" _Kakashi said.

Neji shrugged. _"Fine with me."_

Kakashi looked back up at her and shrugged.

"You don't know?"

He nodded.

Sayuri glared at them. "That's a bunch of bullshit! How can you not know how you can read?!"

Kakashi just stared at her and shrugged.

Sayuri sat on her couch and stared at the two large cats sitting on her table. 'How in the world can these two do that? I knew they weren't normal, but this is too much. Maybe it's because I've been in front of that oven too long.'

She rubbed her eyes.

Kakashi jumped down and jumped up onto the couch right beside her. He placed his front paws on her leg and looked up into her face, _"Sayuri-san?"_

She heard his meow as well as felt his weight on her leg and looked right into the cat's face. He stared sadly back at her. She felt a little nudge on her other side and looked at the arm of the couch. Neji was sitting there with the same sad look.

"Why are you two so sad?"

They stared at her.

"_If only you could understand us," _Kakashi said quietly.

She looked into the white cat's eyes and sighed. "Whatever. I knew you two were weird. This just proves it," she said while petting Kakashi's head.

He leaned into her hand as she started petting Neji. They sat there, the two cats letting the petting zone them out so they would forget their past for a while. After a while, Sayuri had a cat laying partially on her lap and another lying on her left shoulder.

She looked between the two and thought, 'How did I get blessed with these strange creatures?'

They were sleeping deeply and she let them rest.

"Where the hell are those damn cats?" the dark skinned woman mumbled angrily. "I know I left them here and now they're gone!" She jumped onto a rooftop as the thin moon slowly rose. 'I'll find them tomorrow,' she thought to herself.

The two cats strolled leisurely down the street. They had decided to explore the area around the bakery and not leave the street it was on today. Many curious glances came towards them, but they ignored them. A child of about 6 reached out to pet one of them, but the mom hurriedly pulled the child away, but made the mistake of not walking off. Kakashi took advantage and pushed his head into the kid's hand. The kid made a small squeal of delight as he started petting Kakashi. The white cat stood there calmly and let the child ruffle up his fur. The mom stared in shock at how calm the cat was.

Neji looked at his comrade, _"Why did you push your head into the kid's hand. It could've caused problems."_

Kakashi flinched slightly as the kid hit the middle of his back a little too hard. _"We've got to prove to the townspeople that we mean no harm."_

Neji understood immediately and walked up to the mom who was still staring at the white cat. He sat near her feet and looked up. She looked down at his pale golden eyes and gasped, "Such beautiful eyes."

She reached down and Neji remained perfectly calm as she cautiously stroked his head. When she noticed he wasn't going to do anything she started scratching his shoulders right where he liked it. Many of the villagers had stopped to see the huge cats' reaction to the kid and now many were surrounding them, petting them. The two heard many comment on their fur and eyes. Kakashi smiled at Neji who stood calmly and emotionlessly as many petted his fur saying it was soft and thick.

Sayuri and Emi glanced out the shop window at the small crowd that had gathered not far from their place. Curious they went out to the crowd and Sayuri laughed. Those in the crowd looked up at her confused.

"It looks like you two have drawn quite the crowd," she said smiling at the cats.

They both got up and walked over to Sayuri, sitting down beside her.

"Are those your cats?" one person asked.

"Yeah, you could say that. This silver one I call Kiri and the aloof one is Kuroi."

"They're so calm," another commented.

A woman jumped to the roof of a nearby shop and looked down shocked to see the two ninja she'd turn sitting calmly, and even smiling slightly, by this commoner. If it weren't for the crowd then she would've gone down there and grabbed them.

Neji looked up and would've tensed up if it weren't for the fact he had to remain normal and nice to these people. _"Kakashi-sensei, look at the rooftops."_

Kakashi looked up and saw that woman there.

The gal saw them look at her and she smiled broadly and waved at them.

It was all the two could do to not growl at the site of that woman. They both felt Sayuri's hand fall onto their heads gently and they looked up at her. She was smiling down at them.

"Would you like to stay outside or come in?"

The crowd was slowly dispelling and the two cats looked up at the roof where that woman was still sitting.

"Well, just meow at the door and either Emi or I will let you in."

Sayuri turned and went back in. Kakashi and Neji both stalked into an alley and sat with their backs to the street. That woman jumped down in front of them.

"Hiya!"

They both growled and felt the hair on their backs rise in anger.

"Tut, tut, that's no way to greet your master."

Their growls turned to quiet snarls so as to not attract attention from those on the road.

"_You are not our master!" _Neji snarled.

"Oh, I think I am since I am the one that changed you."

"_What did you place on us?" _Kakashi growled.

"A simple little spell that only I can remove," she smiled even more as she said this.

They continued snarling.

"_Take it off," _Neji growled.

"Nope, no can do."

"_Why not?"_ Kakashi asked.

"Because I don't want to."

"_What have we done to you to deserve this?" _Kakashi snarled.

"Oh, nothing. I just like how your hearts are and I think you would make a fine addition to my collection."

"_We are not something to be toyed with!" _Neji growled.

She continued smiling. "You have no choice but to come back to me, but I'll be nice and let you have some freedom. When you're ready to join me all you have to do is say: Exotic flower of this day hear our call and come our way. It must be repeated by the both of you at the same time, unless one is dead. I will come when you call. Ta for now!" She smiled even more and waved then disappeared into thin air.

Kakashi and Neji both stood up and took their anger out on the neighboring walls. When they were somewhat happy with the destruction, there were deep gashes in the bricks.

"Where are Kakashi, Neji, and Sakura?" Tsunade asked.

Gai, Naruto, Lee, and Tenten both stood in the Hokage's office after running for 3 straight days.

"Sakura remained back in the village as I asked her to. As for Kakashi and Neji, we don't know what happened to them," Gai answered.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "What was that?"

"Kakashi-sensei and Neji were going to check out a strange chakra that Neji had seen on the edge of his byakugan and they never returned. When I sent the youth filled ones to search for them, all that was found were their bags, weapons, and clothes," Gai replied calmly.

"So, if I am to understand this correctly, two jounins just disappeared into thin air?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," Gai answered.

"Was there any signs of a fight or struggle? Any strange scent?"

They all shook their heads.

Tsunade sighed and looked in irritation at her desk. 'These days are starting to get worse and worse and now I have an elite jounin and a Hyuuga disappear on a small mission. What else could get worse?'

She looked up. "You will take Team 10 back with you. Hinata's Byakugan should be of good use as well as Kiba and Akamaru's strong sense of smell and Shino's chakra bugs. You're to leave as soon as possible. Understood?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama," they all said.

* * *

ok now reviews are accepted even if you're saying that it's a lil slow (i did say it will pick up after this chapter) and remember...frozen chakra and pale eyed boy are as fast as a speeding bullet (can a bullet speed?) compared to this


	5. Chapter 5

long time no update huh? from now on updates will be a week apart like in my other story, Frozen Chakra. it's to help me have plenty of left over for buffering time when these dratted writer's blocks hit **:rolls eyes:**

disclaimer: like the past who knows how many chapters i've posted on this site, i don't own naruto lol

* * *

Sakura wandered through the town. She had been searching for any signs of her missing friends for the week that she had stayed in the village. She was now in a new area and she spotted a small bakery. Her stomach rumbled a little so she decided a quick visit wouldn't hurt since she did have a sweet tooth going right now. She walked inside and delicious smells hit her. Sakura enhaled deeply.

"Welcome," a woman with long dark hair in twin braids on either side of her head said.

"Hello," Sakura replied with a smile.

"You new around here?" the young woman asked.

Sakura smiled. "Yes, I'm just visiting some old friends, but I can't seem to find where they live since they've moved. Do you think you could help?"

The young woman leaned on the counter, "I could try. What'd they look like?"

"Well they're both guys and one had silver hair and the other had long dark brown hair. Seen them?"

The girl thought for a minute then shook her head sadly, "No, sorry, but if I do see them I'll tell them you're looking for them, uh…"

"Sakura."

The girl smiled and shook Sakura's hand. "Sayuri. Nice to meet you Sakura-san."

Sakura smiled back then looked around. "There's so many good smells in here."

Sayuri laughed kindly. "We tend to specialize in deserts. Would you care to try a sample?"

Sakura grinned widely. "I would love to!"

Sitting back at the hotel, Sakura lazily munched on some of the cherry squares she had bought earlier. They were absolutely sweet and the powdered sugar on top just added more to the sweetness. Someone knocked at her door and when she opened it she saw Gai and the others.

"Did you find them?" Naruto asked right away.

Sakura shook her head and stepped to the side for the others to come in. She noticed Hinata, Kiba, and Shino.

"Did you find any clue?" Gai asked.

Again she shook her head. "I've been looking all week. It's like they disappeared into thin air."

Gai looked at Hinata, "Can you see if you see any strange chakra with your byakugan?"

She nodded and activated her byakugan. After a little while she de-activated it and shook her head. "Nothing, not even Kakashi-sensei's or Neji-niisan's chakra either."

"Are they still in this village then?" Kiba asked.

They all looked down then Naruto noticed the cherry squares on the table. "Sakura-chan, what are those?"

She looked at the little desserts that were on the table. "The owner of a nearby bakery called them cherry squares. They're really sweet."

"Can I have one?" he asked giving the puppy dog look at Sakura.

She ignored it. "You can buy your own."

"Can you show me where it is then?"

Sakura looked outside. It was getting close to nighttime. "They might be closed."

"But we might still make it and I'm hungry, please Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked.

The pink haired kunoichi looked at Gai.

He smiled. "A sweet tooth in a youth is a good sign. Lead the way!"

She rolled her eyes and led them to the bakery.

When they reached it the shop lights were off and only a faint light came from a window above the shop. A closed sign was resting in the door.

"I told you they were closed," Sakura said.

"Aw, but I wanted some desserts," Naruto whined.

"We can come back tomorrow," Sakura said angrily.

Kakashi and Neji looked out the window down on the group around the shop door.

"_It looks like Hinata and her team are with them," _Kakashi said quietly.

"_Yeah, but where's Akamaru?" _

"_I don't know, they probably left him back at the hotel or something."_

"Boys, dinner time," Sayuri called.

They slowly tore themselves away from the window with a twinge of sadness.

After dinner they laid in Sayuri's bed. Kakashi was draped across Sayuri's stomach fast asleep and Neji was curled up on her pillow right beside her shoulder, sleeping as well. Sayuri was still awake reading a book in the lamplight. This had been their ritual for almost the past week. She looked up at the two and smiled.

'Life sure is interesting with these two around,' she thought to herself.

She placed her bookmark in its spot and laid it on the night stand then poked Kakashi until he opened a groggy eye at her.

"Time to get up, I've got to go to bed."

Kakashi yawned and Neji stirred next to her. Sayuri would've let them sleep with her except for the fact of their size. They hogged a little over half the bed and her bed wasn't that big either. So they both got up sluggishly and headed out the door.

"G'night," she called as she turned out her light.

Two quiet meows replied to her.

Out on the couch they listened as Sayuri fell asleep. The house was a little cool from the oncoming fall, but they didn't mind because when they curled up, it was like having a blanket over them. They fell asleep too, but woke up when it came towards midnight. Their bodies were hurting badly.

"_What's going on?!" _Neji asked quietly.

Kakashi winced in pain and arched his back. Neji felt his shoulders pop and did his best to hold in a yowl of pain. It felt like growing pains times a thousand to them. Every thing in their body was hurting. An insane urge to scratch came all over them as the hair on their bodies started to disappear.

After 5 minutes, two men were lying on the floor, panting hard from the change their bodies had gone through. Kakashi looked wearily over his shoulder and saw Neji's bare back and loose long hair. He looked down at his own body and saw human legs and parts.

"We're human again," he whispered in shock.

"But…naked," was Neji's embarrassed reply.

Kakashi remembered the bed in the spare room and quickly got up. He came back out with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and threw another on top of Neji.

"Thanks," he grunted.

"No problem," Kakashi replied quietly and sat down with his back against the couch.

"Why did we change back?" Neji whispered as he sat up.

Kakashi closed his eyes tiredly and searched for his chakra. He concentrated and he could pull some to his feet. "Neji, can you call your chakra out?"

The boy sat still for a second, "Yes."

Kakashi looked out the window and saw all the stars. There were billions out and they were bright. "Where's the moon?"

Neji looked out the window too. "Maybe it's a new moon?"

"Could that be why we changed?" Kakashi asked.

Neji looked skeptically at the white haired man.

"What? It's just a theory, you know, like werewolves change at the full moon. Maybe we change at a new moon," Kakashi said.

Neji still looked a little skeptical, but he saw a little reasoning behind it.

"Should we tell Sayuri-san this?" Kakashi asked.

"I think she would scream at seeing two naked guys in her house."

Kakashi chuckled quietly. "I bet she would."

"Should we try and talk to the others?" Neji asked.

"I don't know. We don't know how long this'll last. In some legends, werewolves change on the three nights of the full moon so maybe there's three nights of a new moon?"

They both looked out at the starry sky.

"I hope there is," Neji whispered.

"We need to find clothes if we're to go visiting tomorrow night."

They both got up and walked quietly to the spare bedroom and spent most of the night trying to find something without going into Sayuri's room. Once they found something, they went to Sayuri's work room and grabbed some paper and wrote out a small note to give to the others when they came to her shop tomorrow. When dawn came they experienced the pain again and were barely able to make the screams of pain small moans as their bodies changed back to the cat form. Only a few minutes after the change ended, Sayuri's alarm went off and she was stumbling half asleep down the hall.

The two cats spent the entire day at Sayuri's, but one slept while the other kept watch. It was Kakashi's turn in the afternoon to keep a look out for the others. When he saw them walking towards the shop he ran downstairs with the paper in his mouth and snuck into the shop and waited in the shadows.

"Wow!" came from both Naruto and Kiba.

He heard Sayuri laugh and they exchanged words. Kakashi snuck forwards and hid under a table in the corner. When Sayuri went into the back he came out and stood in front of the others. They all stared at him and saw the vertical scar across his left eye. Kakashi heard Sayuri finishing her conversation with Emi so he dropped the paper on the floor and flung it towards them. It hit Tenten and she picked it up and read it. Her eyes widened and she looked at the silver cat as she passed the paper. Sayuri came out and saw Kakashi sitting there.

"Kiri! What have I told you about not being in the shop. Get back upstairs now!"

Kakashi turned and right before he went up, he gave a last look over his shoulder and his friends saw the small plea of hopeful understanding in his eyes. The door closed on him and he went up to sleep near Neji, happy that they understood the letter.

Sakura was the first to recover and looked at Sayuri with a smile. "Where did you find a cat like that?"

Sayuri smiled. "I was coming home from a delivery one day about a week ago and there he was along with a cat that is all black, unconscious in the middle of the alley. They're both that height! And they have beautiful eyes. If you noticed, Kiri's eyes are mismatched. One's almost purple and the other, Kuroi, his eyes are the palest gold I've ever seen."

"Really?!" Sakura said in shock. "Can we see them?"

Sayuri looked at them a little suspiciously.

"We promise not to do anything. I've just heard a rumor going around town about them and I told my friends about them."

She contemplated them a little longer then shrugged, "I guess. They are weird," she said smiling. She shouted back at Emi that she was getting the cats then went upstairs.

Both boys looked up when they heard the footsteps. Kakashi had just about fallen asleep.

Sayuri's head appeared above the steps. "Hey, can you two come down here for a sec? There's these people wanting to see you. This is the only time I'll ask you today then I'll leave you alone."

Neji looked at Kakashi, _"Is it them?"_

"_Yeah."_

They both got up and stretched.

Sayuri came down the steps and stood to the side. Two large cats of opposite color came down the steps. First it was Kakashi then Neji. The group in the shop stared wide eyed when they saw the two. The vertical scar across Kakashi's eye stood out and Neji's Pale eyes caught their attention as well. The two cats sat side by side and calmly looked at the group.

"Wow, they're huge," Tenten whispered to keep Sayuri from thinking anything weird.

Kakashi yawned and said, _"Sayuri-san's bed is mine."_

Neji growled slightly. _"Is not."_

They both looked up at Sayuri.

"Ok, you can go now."

Kakashi and Neji both shot up the stairs leaving Sayuri laughing. "I don't know what's gotten into them today, but did you hear them do that low meow, it's like their talking to each other because they do that a lot."

"Really?" Kiba asked.

Sayuri nodded. "It's quite interesting when that's all you hear in a quiet house."

Naruto looked into a glass case and then started to drool. "What are these?"

Sayuri looked at what he was drooling at. "Those would be cinnamon rolls."

Kakashi and Neji stretched out on Sayuri's bed.

"_I think they recognized us," _Neji mumbled.

"_Yup," _Kakashi yawned.

They both stretched tiredly as the sun warmed their bodies.

The group walked out of the bakery and Naruto asked from behind his bag of goodies, "What did that note say?"

Sakura pulled it out. "Stay at the hotel and we'll try our best to meet you there tonight. Don't blame Sayuri-san for anything. And it's signed Kakashi and Neji."

"Didn't those cats' looks remind you of them?" Tenten asked.

"I think they were them," Kiba answered.

They all stopped walking and looked at him.

He continued, "It smelled a lot like them, so I think it was them."

"But why are they cats?" Naruto asked.

"I guess we'll find out tonight," Sakura answered.

* * *

long one ne? i liked the idea of this being the stopping point : )


	6. Chapter 6

ok srry bout the wait...we went on vacation lol...it was cool and we went to the "new shanghai circus"...that was awesome!! it was chinese acrobats and they were all freakin flexible and the boys could do complete splits!! and there was this one girl that could balance 5 small glass tower things while moving around on her stomach and side and bending her spine weirdly and she also had a larger one in her mouth for a long time too!! it was awesome!! lmao

dis: if i could've spelled usuratonkachi correctly the other day then i would've had a chance at comin close to owning naruto...but sadly i couldn't even spell that freakin word Y-Y

* * *

Kakashi and Neji watched from the couch as Sayuri got around for bed.

"_I think we should tell Sayuri-san the truth," _Neji said.

"_Tonight?" _Kakashi asked.

Neji nodded. _"It'd be best if she understood our predicament early on. Maybe she could help us more."_

"_It is a good idea and all, but how are we going to tell her?"_

"_We'll show her, not tell her," _Neji answered.

Kakashi looked at the black cat. _"You sure she's not going to freak out at seeing her two cats change into fully grown men?"_

"_We've got to try something, besides, how else would she believe us?"_

"_True, but how are we going to keep her awake?"_

They watched as she came out of the bathroom in her pajamas. She smiled and beckoned them to her as she walked to her room. They got up and walked down the hall.

"_How about we sleep in her room tonight and when the change starts, we don't hold in the yowls from the pain like last time?" _Kakashi asked.

"_That should work," _Neji agreed.

The two cats jumped up and went to their normal spots by Sayuri and slept lightly, hoping that they theory of the new moon was correct since this was going to be the last new moon in a month.

Kakashi felt the girl poke his sides to wake him up. After the exchanged good nights the two cats walked out into the hall and sat near the door. Soon, Sayuri's breathing slowed as she fell asleep. Because of their nap all day, Kakashi and Neji weren't that tired. Quietly they crept back into her room and laid down near the windows. A few hours past. They assumed it was a little after 1 in the morning, but nothing still happened. Both of their tales were flicking slightly back and forth with impatience, but that soon stopped as the small tug came from inside their bodies.

Kakashi jumped up onto the bed and dug his claws into Sayuri's arm. They figured it was best if she didn't wake up to the yowling. His shoulders were starting to shift yet the girl still didn't wake up. He put both front paws on her upper arm and dragged his claws down the frail skin. She sat up fast and swung at him, but he jumped down onto the floor and landed on his side, curled up in pain.

"Oh my god! Are you two ok?!" She was sitting up and looking quickly between the cats then noticed something. They were getting bigger.

Sayuri sat there in shock as slowly their bodies got bigger and their restrained yowls of pain turned to small screams and moans. Her eyes got bigger as their fur slowly started disappearing as she saw their bones move themselves into that of a human's skeleton. She then realized what was happening and her fear started to rise. Sayuri scooted slowly to the other side of her bed for the remainder of their change.

Once the moans of pain disappeared, she saw the two naked men sit up slowly and, still slightly crouched over, look at her.

"Sayuri-san," the white haired one gasped.

She sat there, staring at them.

Kakashi and Neji barely saw her, but they could tell she was terrified.

"Please, Sayuri-san, we mean you no harm," Neji croaked out and flinched slightly. His head was pounding from the change his eyes had gone through again.

Kakashi saw the flinch. "Are you alright, Neji?"

"I'm fine, just that headache."

"Who the hell are you two?" Sayuri asked.

Neji kept his eyes shut and Kakashi looked back up at her. "My name is Hatake Kakashi and this is Hyuuga Neji. We're ninjas from the village hidden in the leaves, but a curse was placed on us forcing us into the forms of cats."

"C-curse?" she asked quietly.

Kakashi nodded. "Yes, but can we have some cover first?"

Sayuri stared in confusion at him then realized what he meant and blushed brightly as she kicked her bed sheets at him. He caught them and separated two sheets, one of which he placed around Neji's shoulders.

"What did you do to have a curse placed on you?" Sayuri asked.

Kakashi looked back up at her with the blanket draped around him. "We did nothing, just went to the wrong place at the wrong time. A woman with strange jutsus changed us. We don't know why and we can't get the curse off by ourselves."

Sayuri flipped the lamp on right by her and Neji let out a small snarl of pain and covered his eyes.

She stared at him in fear, but Kakashi quickly said, "It's ok, Sayuri-san. He just can't tolerate too much light when we change. His eyes have to change so their sensitive in the beginning."

"Really?" she gasped in fear.

"Yeah," Neji replied with a grunt.

Sayuri looked at the two men. Kakashi was looking at her, but only one of his eyes were open. Neji still had his face hidden in his hands, but his long dark haired flowed around him. She then looked at Kakashi's hair and let out a small gasp.

"You're the ones that girl was looking for, aren't you?"

Kakashi nodded.

Neji slowly removed his hands and then carefully looked up. The light still caused his headache to throb more, but it didn't hurt as bad so he was able to look around. Sayuri gasped when she saw his eyes. Neji looked right into her eyes.

"H-how…what…."

Neji answered before she could even get a question out, "I am a Hyuuga, and my eyes are those that are inherited in the Hyuuga clan."

Her mouth formed a small "oh".

"Sayuri-san, do you trust us?" Kakashi asked.

She looked at him and blushed slightly at the sight of his face, but answered, "I don't know what to believe or who to trust."

"If you come with us, you may be able to understand more," Kakashi said gently.

"Where are you going?"

"We have to meet our friends and they need to know what happened so we'll be explaining everything there. Please, just trust us this once Sayuri-san," Kakashi said. "At sunrise we change back into cats. Please, we need to inform our Hokage what happened."

She looked at both of them and couldn't believe she saw two strong, hot guys begging her to be able to go to their friends and that they wanted her to know everything as well. After a few minutes of their pleading looks, she slowly gave in. "If you promise not to do anything to me, I'll come with you."

Kakashi smiled a small smile, "We would never hurt you Sayuri-san."

Everyone was crowded into Sakura and the girls' room. They had been there since nightfall. Amazingly even Akamaru was able to get into the rooms, but if he was a little bigger that wouldn't have been possible. Some were asleep, but many were still wide awake. Sakura took the note out of her pocket again and reread it for the millionth time that night. Sighing, she looked across at Tenten who looked back with the same worried look.

Naruto woke up from his doze and glanced tiredly at the two kunoichis at the table. "Any sign yet?" he whispered.

They both shook their heads.

A small tap came at the window and everybody woke up. Gai walked over quietly and looked out. He barely caught a glimpse of Kakashi. He opened the window quickly and looked out. Kakashi and Neji were hanging onto the side of the building by the chakra in their feet and hands. Sayuri was clinging to Kakashi's back. Gai came back into the room to allow his comrades to come in. Neji came first followed by Kakashi. Everyone stared because the two men were only in loose pants and Kakashi wasn't wearing any mask. Small blushes crept over the 3 kunoichi's faces as they looked at Kakashi.

"Kakashi-sensei, why are you only wearing pants?" Naruto asked.

Both Kakashi and Neji looked exhaustedly at the group.

"It's a long story," Kakashi said quietly.

"We've got plenty of time," Gai replied.

"Not really," Neji retorted.

They all looked at him.

He continued, "We've only got until dawn, then we change back."

"Change? Then those cats at the bakery…" Sakura trailed off.

"That was us. At dawn we change back into cats," Kakashi answered.

"What!" Naruto and Kiba whispered loudly.

Everyone in the room looked a little harshly at Sayuri who tried to hide herself better behind the two men.

"It's not Sayuri-san's fault," Kakashi stated a little angrily. "If it weren't for her we wouldn't be here."

They all looked at him in both confusion and shock. Mainly in shock at the anger they heard in his voice.

Kakashi looked at Neji, silently asking who was going to start and Neji just shrugged so Kakashi started in, in detail, on how they were changed.

It was a little past 2 when they finished the story. Even though they didn't give detail on the pain they felt when they changed, they were asked many times on what it was like being a real cat.

After that they all sat trying to figure out how such a thing could happen. Even Sakura examined their bodies yet didn't see anything different. Neji and Hinata both used their byakugans and found nothing abnormal. Sayuri had fallen asleep so they let her rest on one of the beds as they continued trying to come up with something, but nothing came to mind. Kakashi and Neji were sitting quietly against the wall when they felt the tug. The both went to the window fast while the others stared in confusion at them.

"We lost track of time," Kakashi whispered.

The horizon was pale with the oncoming sun.

Pain shot through their bodies and their friends watched with shock as the two they knew as strong and rarely showed pain, collapsed onto the floor.

"What's going on?" Naruto asked quietly.

Lee looked out the window, "It is dawn."

They all looked out and realized what was happening. They looked back at the two and watched as they thrashed about in pain and slowly got smaller and cat like. Many times they flinched as they heard bones popping loudly. Finally it ended and lying on the floor were two pairs of pants and two panting cats. Sayuri had heard the restrained screams of pain and had woke up. When the two cats she knew were on the floor, fully changed, she got up and knelt by them, placing her hands on their sides. Kakashi looked wearily at her then closed his eyes again.

She remembered what Kakashi had said about Neji's eyes. "It would be best if none of us made any loud noise, nor shined any bright light at Neji-san's eyes."

"Why?" Tenten asked.

"He has a headache. I was told that this happened every time they've changed. If I remember correctly, Kakashi-san said it was because his eyes had to change."

The white cat sat up, still hunched over slightly, and nodded. Neji remained on the floor breathing somewhat hard still, with his eyes closed tight in pain.

Sakura looked at her old sensei, "Kakashi-sensei, can you come here?"

The white cat glanced up at her then slowly stood up. His legs were weak from the change still and they all saw a small tremble go through them as he stood, but then he walked slowly over to Sakura and sat by her feet. She knelt down and examined his bone structure. It was exactly like a cat's. She then looked into his eyes and he patiently looked back. There were no signs of the sharingan. Everything physically was built like a cat's.

"Can you control any chakra?" Gai asked.

Kakashi shook his head.

Neji sat up next to Sayuri and Sakura went over and examined his body. It was like a cat's too.

"This is so weird," she mumbled under her breath.

A small breeze came through the window and both the cats and Akamaru sniffed at it curiously. Neji and Kakashi froze and looked at each other. The humans saw them tense up.

Kakashi looked at Akamaru, _"Tell Kiba to tell the others to get out of here now!"_

The dog instantly relayed the info and Kiba told the others.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"_She's coming and you don't need caught in her trap," _Kakashi answered.

The info was relayed and the others quickly went into action.

Kakashi looked at Neji, _"Go with them."_

"_What! What about you?"_

"_I'm staying behind. If she gets one of us, it'll give time for everyone else to get out because she'll have to take us to wherever she originally planned. You go with the others and help figure out how to undo this," _Kakashi replied quickly.

Neji hesitated and when the others looked back they saw Kakashi lash out at the black cat. Neji stumbled back with a few cuts into his shoulder. They stared at the two cats then Neji slowly turned and joined everyone else. When the door closed behind them, he sighed and looked back at the window.

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woohoo!! give it up for another long one XD but sadly school starts tomorrow and college classes start monday Y-Y


	7. Chapter 7

my cat was laying on my hand as i was uploadin this to the internet...creepy lmao srry bout the ever long wait...as i said in the updates for the other 2 stories yesterday...it's all because of homework...i have no time to even be on the internet for 15 minutes...it's cuz of labor day weekend that i'm able to work on this and i gave up goin to bed early (since i did work all day today and i have to get up at 5:45 am jus to go to work) jus so i could type more on this story so i could post an update...yes feel srry for me Y-Y j/k lmao but really i would like to go to bed roflmao...but i don't think an early bedtime will happen much this semester Y-Y and i like sleepin too **:sobs:**

dis: to busy to own naruto

* * *

Neji was curled up in the bottom of Hinata's bag. She had shifted her belongings to Sakura and Tenten's bags to hold her large cousin comfortably in her bag as they sped towards Konoha. They had been running for 3 days straight. Sayuri had decided to stay back in the village to keep an eye out for the white cat.

"Neji-niisan, we see the gates," Hinata said quietly.

Neji bumped his head against her back to notify her that he had heard her.

Soon, they all slowed down and Neji had to shift his position because Hinata was no longer leaning forward.

Tsunade looked up when she heard the knock, "Come in."

Gai and the others she had sent back with him, walked in. She scanned the group quickly and saw neither an emotionless Hyuuga, nor an orange book with a mop of white hair behind it. They took off their packs, which confused the Hokage more.

"You didn't find them? Then why did you come back?"

"Well, actually we did find them," Sakura said.

Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "Are they in the hospital."

Sakura shook her head.

Tsunade stared angrily at them, "Well, where are they?"

A large black cat hopped up onto her desk and sat down, looking straight at her. She looked in shock at it and it bobbed its head in what she assumed as a bow.

She looked back at the others. "What's this?" she said while pointing at the cat.

They all looked back at her a little uncomfortably.

Naruto spoke up, "That's Neji."

Tsunade raised an eyebrow again. "Uh-huh."

"_Hokage-sama," _Neji said.

Tsunade looked at the cat since it had meowed at her. Sakura knew that her sensei wasn't believing it so she brought out a blank scroll and placed it by the cat then brought her Hokage's ink well over to him. Neji got up and dipped his paw in the ink then wrote something on the paper. He stepped back and Tsunade looked at the writing in shock: Please, help us Hokage-sama.

The Godaime sighed heavily. It had been almost a month since Neji returned in his new form. They all had been searching for something in all the ancient scrolls, or at least those who knew about Neji and Kakashi's position. The night they had returned, Gai and the others filled Tsunade in on what happened. She couldn't believe it completely, but Sakura and Hinata had both testified saying that their friend's new bodies were that of a real cats and not a henge. Tsunade herself even examined Neji and found that it was true. If it was a henge or another jutsu, there should've been at least a trace amount of chakra that wasn't Neji's on him, but all she found was just a hint, and that hint was about missed, of Neji's chakra. Tsunade sighed again and looked wearily up at the calendar. Tomorrow was a new moon. She knew of the theory Kakashi had told Neji and so she had already summoned Neji to her since the sun was nearly gone. A small tap came at her door.

"Come in."

Hinata opened the door and stepped into the middle of the room, carefully taking her pack off of her back and setting it on the floor. Neji crawled out of it and sat down, looking at his Hokage.

All the time since he had come back, he had been hiding at his house under Tsunade's orders. Hinata had willingly helped her cousin get around without notice.

"If Kakashi-sensei's theory is correct, then you should change sometime in the next few days, right?"

Neji nodded.

"Would it be possible for you to stay here tonight incase you do change? I'd like to see if there is any hidden jutsu that activates while you're changing."

Neji jumped up onto her desk and Tsunade rolled out a somewhat blank scroll that they had been using to communicate and pushed her ink well towards him. In his time back in Konoha, he had become quite skilled at writing with his paws, even if it wasn't exactly legible sometimes.

Neji stepped back from the paper holding one paw up. The paper read: The change won't start until well into the night.

"I'm aware of that," Tsunade replied.

Neji looked at his Hokage's tired face. He then stepped forward and wrote: You might need someone here to wake you if you fall asleep.

She looked at the black cat, "Is it all right if Hinata stays?"

Neji looked at his cousin. He didn't really like the idea of changing in front of her, but she had seen it before when they were returning to Konoha. They had left on the third night of the new moon and Neji was forced to change in the forest with his friends watching in shock again.

Letting out a small sigh he nodded then wrote: When I do change, please turn out the lights because I'll have a major headache and it hurts more when light hits my eyes. I'll explain when I've changed.

"Ok," Tsunade said.

The tug came early that time. It was only 11 pm when he felt the change starting to come. Tsunade had fallen asleep as he had expected, but Hinata woke her up right as the pain started. Even though she had seen it twice now, her cousin changing still shocked her. Tsunade was wide-awake and watched with worry as bones popping came to her ears.

When the change had finished after 5 minutes, Hinata quickly threw a blanket over Neji and he ducked his head under it.

He gasped out tiredly and hoarsly, "The lights."

"Oh, right!" Tusande said as she quickly flipped the light switch.

They were bathed in darkness and all that was heard was Neji's heavy breathing.

Kakashi prowled around the new room. After everyone had left, she arrived just as he expected. She was thrilled at seeing him, but irritated that Neji wasn't around. The last thing he remembered was her saying a couple soft words then unconsciousness swept over him for no reason. When he woke up, he found himself in the room in which he stalked. It was luxurious for a two legged, and even more so to Kakashi. The couch was squishy and soft, the 4-poster bed was large and soft, the carpet thick beneath his feet, soft, thick blankets everywhere, but it was all in a deep crimson and all the wood was mahogany. Kakashi couldn't find anything that would tell him where he was, let alone what time or day it was. The light always remained on, but since the thick curtains were drawn around the bed all the time, he could find darkness there. He remained in this god-forsaken place for who knows how long, with an occasional food delivery through a small slot in the door. After what felt like eternity in solitude, she visited him.

"You pains in the Asses are hard to track! I can't find your other friend!" she growled loudly while pacing the room.

Kakashi just sat down on the back of the couch silently while glaring at her. She had left the door open, but he knew he had no chance of escaping while she was angry like this.

"I use a lot of my power to selflessly change you into what your original forms might be, and you go and do this to me!" Her hair was starting to move more than what her walking should've done.

Kakashi remained still.

"Everyone else nearly goes spastic while I'm gone hunting you…"

Kakashi was still a stiff as a statue.

"and I nearly attract the attention of some other demis…"

His glare never wavered.

"And will you quit glaring at me!" she finally screeched at him.

Kakashi's silver tail flicked a couple times in irritation.

"Ugh!!" She stomped her foot and glared at him in a way that reminded the jounin of a spoiled rotten child. She then stomped over to him and grabbed the back of his neck and picked him up.

"I've had it with your attitude! I was going to keep you away from the others, but since you are acting just like them, I'll put you with them!"

She then walked off, still carrying Kakashi by the back of his neck. It took all of his strength to keep from yowling in pain because of his skin and muscle being pulled away from his body by the way she was holding him. Through eyes slitted in pain, he saw barren halls with an occasional statue or artwork. After a few minutes, and his neck going numb, she stopped and opened another door and threw him in. He landed hard on cement flooring, loosing his breath.

"Your new friend," she shouted into the room. "Treat him however you like."

The door slammed shut and Kakashi looked around while his neck screamed in pain. There were all kinds of animals looking curiously at him. They all ranged from as small as a squirrel to as large as a horse. A large brown bear got up from the group and walked slowly towards Kakashi. The silver cat got up fast and backed up against the wall.

The brown bear stopped. _"I mean you no harm, young one,"_ he rumbled slowly.

"_Grunge doesn't harm any of us," _a hawk calmly said. He was perched on the buck's antlers.

The bear sat down where he had stopped. _"Tell us your name, please."_

Kakashi quickly glanced at everyone in the room. _"Kakashi."_

Grunge nodded. _"A pleasure to meet you, even if we are trapped here."_

"_Where exactly is here."_

"_We don't know," _the bear answered solemnly. _"Would you mind telling us your story?"_

Kakashi just stared at him.

Grunge chuckled. _"We're not going to give away anything about you. It's just that it's been a long time since someone new has come and we've all been trapped here far too long. Please, at least tell us a little bit about yourself. Any story is welcome to a bored mind."_

Kakashi still hesitated then sighed, laying down to rest his sore neck. _"There isn't anything fancy about me, but I understand what you mean by a bored mind. I'm a Konoha ninja and I was turned along with another comrade of mine when we went to investigate a strange charka source. We were able to avoid capture by her once, but this time, she would've caught our friends as well, so I stayed behind while I forced my comrade to leave with our friends. That's about it."_

"_That's it?!" _a squirrel squeeked.

Kakashi lazily looked at him. _"Yes, I'm not about to give out al the information about me."_

"_But-."_

"_Itsuki." _Grunge growled.

The squirrel ducked behind dog.

"_Forgive him. He's the most restless of us all."_

"_I can tell," _Kakashi lazily replied.

"_Tell me, Kakashi-san, have you changed yet?"_

Kakashi looked up at the bear. _"By change do you mean turning back into a human for a shot amount of time?"_

Grunge nodded.

"_Yes."_

"_When is your time of change?"_

"_The 3 nights of the new moon."_

A lot of whispering broke out amongst the other animals and Kakashi caught quite a few sympathetic looks directed at him. He looked up at Grunge who also looked down at him sadly.

"_Kakashi-san, do you know anything about our curse?"_

* * *

yet another cliffie lmao warning...as stated in my other 2 in-progress stories...do NOT expect updates an awful lot...but i will try to NOT let one of my stories go past a month of no updates...blame and curse homework if you please...don't blame me lol

and i thank all who've read this story and luvd it so far and favd it and all...i'm quite suprised that so many like this lmao...now off to bed XD


	8. Chapter 8

ok from now on the characters will be a lil ooc cuz i mean c'mon how can u remain the same when ur life is on the line and u've endured so much pain etc etc etc so no complaining about that or i'm goin to make u study a 45 page study guide plus memorize 5 essay question answers...jus be glad i typed over 10 pages on this story tonight...once again sacrificing beautiful sleep time Y-Y...and i was goin to say something else but i forgot what...hmmm...damn...i hate it when that happens and i get the feeling it was kind of important...or maybe its cuz i didn't study for my test and quiz tomorrow...huh...o well...me dunno and if i remember it i'll try to update it tomorrow at school...but if not ...o well lmao...o and i think this is the longest chapter i've posted in about 3 months...i think the other longest was right before i hit a writer's block on frozen chakra...huh...o and this was the only fanfic i've typed on tonight...tryin to finish it up so i don't have to worry bout typing on it any more lmao

dis: i jus wanna sleep TT-TT

* * *

"_No."_

Grunge sighed. _"Follow me, please." _

The big bear got back onto his paws and slowly started walking towards the direction of the light. Kakashi got up and followed by his side. As they walked, the air became fresher and soon, Kakashi saw an opening in the wall. Grunge walked through it and when Kakashi stepped through, he stopped. All around them were huge trees and soft light gently filtered through the leaves that were higher up than any tree Kakashi has ever seen. Grunge didn't stop walking so Kakashi ran back to his side.

"_I don't remember my real name, nor do I know how old I am. I just know I'm the oldest here. The reason is because I change only once every 5 years."_

A sour smell was starting to come to Kakashi's nose, but he remained silent as Grunge continued.

"_I am the only one to have such a large gap in-between my changes, thus I live longer, but those who change a lot, don't live quite so long. Many don't survive 4 seasons."_

They rounded a bend and shallow cave came into view, plus the source of the disgusting smell. Inside the cave were numerous rotting bodies. Many were half man, half beast. Some were all human or all animal.

"_Our bodies can only handle so much change. When the stress becomes too much, our hearts give out. Kakashi-san, most of these bodies were of those who changed at least once every other month. They only lasted 13 moon cycles at most. _(AN: about 13 months) _No one has ever changed as much as you say you do. Plus, being a shinobi, your body has already been under much stress."_

Kakashi looked amongst the bodies sadly.

"_I'm afraid you don't have much time left, Kakashi-san."_

Tsunade glanced worriedly at Neji as he rested beneath a sheet in her dark office. It had been 2 months since she first saw him change, and with each of his changes, the longer it took for him to recover his strength. The changes were also apparently more and more painful for the Hyuuga since he screamed with each recent change. She knew very well that his body couldn't handle this for much longer, which also narrowed Kakashi's days as well. She sighed and lit 3 candles on her desk to read the ancient book she had found earlier. It would be a good 20-25 minutes until Neji could open his eyes a little. That was another thing that worried her. The more stress his eyes went through, the faster he would loose them. She estimated that his eyes would go about 2 months before his death. This only added more to her anger at her helplessness and their fruitless search.

"Hokage-sama," Neji gasped quietly.

"Neji, be quiet. You need to rest and it's only been 15 minutes."

"Tsunade-sama, please…"he took a few deep breaths "let me go outside tonight."

"It's too dangerous to go out since you're supposed to be dead. And the condition you're in, you shouldn't even be talking."

"Tsuande-sama…" some more deep breaths "I'm dying. I can feel it. Please, let me walk as a human while I still can."

Tsunade stared in shock at his back. She could see that his eyes were still shut, but they weren't squeezed shut as tightly as they had been all the other times.

She sighed. "We'll see once you're somewhat recovered. Ok?"

Neji sighed. "Yes, Hokage-sama."

After 20 minutes, Neji sat up. Tsunade knelt beside him instantly. The candles on her desk throwing long shadows across the room, but it was enough to make Neji squint in a little pain.

"Neji, look at me."

The boy looked up. Tsunade examined his eyes the best she could, but since his eyes were naturally pale, she couldn't tell if there was any change in them right off. She sighed in irritation.

"How well can you see?"

Neji looked down and said quietly in shame, "Everything's blurry."

"How long has it been like this?"

"Since last night's change."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" she hissed.

He closed his eyes. "You have enough weight on your shoulders already, Tsunade-sama. I didn't want to add more."

She stared somewhat aghast at him because he had never shown any act of complete consideration and kindness to others before. Another sigh escaped her. "If there is any more changes, you are to tell me right away. Is that clear?"

"Hai, Hokage-sama."

"Good, now let's go outside."

A ghost of a small smile appeared on Neji's face. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."

She shrugged and helped Neji stand. He kept the blanket wrapped around his lean body as Tsunade pulled out some sweats for him to wear and turned her back towards him to give him some privacy. After just a few seconds, they were jumping slowly from rooftop to rooftop, Neji keeping a gentle hold on Tsunade's arm so she could lead him.

A man was just leisurely jumping from tree to tree. He had been away for a long time keeping an eye on a neighboring ruler. A warm breeze lifted the leaves again and he stopped to smell it, then froze. There was a scent that was familiar yet faint, but it was all that was needed to bring out the anger he had been trying to control for all those years in the foreign ruler's court.

"Neji, I think we should tell the others about this," Tsunade said quietly as they stepped back into her office. "I figured your eyesight would've left in another 2 months, not now. I don't think I can accurately estimate how much longer you have."

Neji stood quietly just staring at the floor the way the blind look while listening to someone.

"Neji?"

He sighed and closed his eyes. "I don't think I will be able to do any more research. My sight will be nearly gone after I change back in a little bit."

"Your sight's leaving that quickly?"

He nodded.

Tsunade dropped to her chair and sighed. "I really wish I could do something. Out of all these scrolls and books, nothing! It's really starting to piss me off!"

Neji looked towards his Hokage and saw a faint outline of where the white was located on her clothing. "Tsunade-sama, is there anything you want me to do before I die?"

She stared at him in complete shock. His face was nearly hidden in the darkness of his hair, but she still saw the look of defeat on his face; defeat and acceptance. "Neji, how can you give up? Your friends want you and Kakashi back, not your bodies."

He sighed and looked down, his hair completely engulfing his face from her sight. "We've been looking all this time with nothing found, and I won't survive another 2 changes. I was barely able to stay alive in tonight's change."

Tsunade was even more shocked at him. She had rarely heard defeat emitted from a ninja, but to even think of a Hyuuga admitting defeat was unheard of.

Everyone that knew about the curses upon their friends were sitting at one of the training grounds, except Hinata, Tsunade, and Neji.

"Isn't tonight a new moon?" Naruto asked out loud.

"It is tonight," Lee answered. "Do you think Tsunade-sama will allow us to see our friend?"

The air dampened even more with dread. No on had found anything regarding the curse and any mention of Kakashi and Neji brought out their guilt.

Tenten looked at the horizon that was barely colored. "I hate to say this, but I miss them both."

Naruto and Sakura looked up at the stars.

"Yea, it's weird, when I see an orange book I instinctively roll my eyes and then I realize Kakashi-sensei isn't reading it," Sakura said quietly.

"And it's boring without having to plan a way to get his mask off," Naruto said. A few others in the group chuckled.

"You're speaking of them as if they're dead," Tsunade said jumping down from a tree.

All the teenagers looked a little guilty and sadly at her.

Gai spoke up, "Where's Neji?"

"He'll show up later with Hinata, after he's changed." The teens' faces lit up.

"Finally, I will be able to challenge my eternal rival again!" Lee said happily.

Sakura saw her sensei's face sadden. "Tsunade-sama? What happened?"

She looked up and smiled sadly. "It – you'll find out when the other two get here."

The air dampened again at her words.

Even though it was a little dangerous, they had a small light on in the late night. The dew had settled on the grass blades hours ago, but no one moved from the training grounds. They were all waiting for Neji and Hinata, and no matter how much they pestered her, they couldn't get Tsunade to tell them what had happened.

Everyone straightened as they felt two familiar charka sources coming towards them, but they were coming unusually slow. After a few minutes Hinata jumped into the clearing followed by Neji.

"Neji!" Naruto shouted then stopped. Everyone, except Tsunade, was staring at the strange scene before them. Neji and Hinata were holding hands and Neji was behind his smaller cousin.

"Neji," Tenten started cautiously, "why are you holding Hinata's hand?"

They all heard him sigh.

"I'm blind."

The two words were as effective as a paralyzing wound. Hinata carefully led her cousin towards the others as they just stared at him. His eyes were lidded halfway and he never once tried to look around. She stopped right by Tenten and the older kunoichi looked into her friend's once proud eyes and saw pain, exhaustion, and defeat. Everyone saw it in the little light that was provided.

"Neji, what can you see?" Tsunade asked quietly.

He looked up. "A faint light, some shadows, that's it."

Tsunade sighed. "And the change?"

He looked down with a bit of guilt covering his face, but gave no answer.

Hinata looked at Tsunade, "I had to use some medic jutsu to help his heart continue and to kill some of the pain."

Tsunade's face gravened as the others looked at Neji in alarm. The Hokage walked forward while saying, "Neji, I'm just going to check your pulse on your right wrist."

Neji held up his hand and she took it gently and they all stood there quietly. After a minute the Hokage sighed again. "I don't think traveling by charka while be allowed to you any more. Your heart is too weak."

Neji closed his eyes.

"So you're the one."

Everyone that could see whirled in the direction of the voice. Barely outlined by the light was a tall man with long dark hair and dark skin.

"Who are you?" Tsunade demanded.

Tenten, Lee, and Hinata stood close to Neji on guard.

"Easy now," the man said holding up his hands. "I'm not out to fight."

"Then what are you doing here?" Tsunade replied.

He smiled. "I smelled something that bothered me to the point it's keeping me from continuing home. That's all."

"And what might that smell be?" Gai asked.

"Something you humans can't detect."

"And that is?" Tsunade asked.

Anger quickly flashed in his eyes then left. "Another of our kind's power."

They all looked in confusion at him. Neji was even more confused because of the man's accent. It was close to that woman's accent.

"Boy, the one who did this to you, what did she look like."

"If I tell you, what do I get in return?"

"I might be able to make a counter spell. Would you like to go back to being a human?"

"Who are you!?" Tsunade demanded.

The man ignored her and kept his sights on Neji. He saw the faint hope come and go as quick as a blink of an eye.

"It's too late. Even if I do get a normal body back, I won't last long."

"Neji, what the hell are you saying?" Naruto nearly yelled.

"You all heard Hinata-sama. She had to use charka to keep my heart from giving out. I won't last another change."

Tsunade saw the stranger's face grow dark. "Boy, what's your time of change?"

"Three nights of every new moon."

"How many moon cycles have you gone through?"

Neji remained silent for a few seconds. "This is my fourth moon."

The stranger's mouth dropped in shock. "You've lasted all this time with changes that close together?!"

"It seems you know a lot about this condition?" Tsunade asked suspiciously.

"A little bit. Boy, tell me what the person looked like that did this to you. I may be able to help you, but you've got to tell me."

Neji sighed. "Her height was up to my chin, she was dark skinned, long dark hair, and pale green eyes."

Anger consumed the stranger's face and he swung around and dug a clawed hand into the trunk of the tree. The leaves began to wilt and turn to ash while the tree itself turned grayer.

"I'm going to kill her once I get my hands on that bitch."

He then turned and started walking towards the group. They all would've backed away if they weren't ninjas. "Boy, we're going straight to her and we're going to have a little chat, and yes, you're coming with me."

"Not without us," Naruto growled.

The man looked at Naruto and they all saw his eyes clearly. They were crimson.

"I can only take 3 others along with the boy and me."

Tsunade gritted her teeth in anger. 'If only I wasn't the Hokage,' she thought.

"I'll go," Gai said.

"So am I," Naruto added.

"Not without me," Kiba answered.

"No Kiba."

The Inuzuka looked shocked at Tsunade.

"Kakashi will be in the same condition as Neji. Sakura needs to go to be able to keep them both from dying."

Sakura nodded and looked defiantly back at the stranger.

He just smirked, the anger still evident on his face. "Man, are you guys cliché or what?"

They glared at him. He just shrugged.

"We're going to be traveling in a way that'll be hard on your bodies, but we need to get to where we're going fast or the boy here will die."

"Wait, Neji's body is too weak as is," Tsunade said.

"I know, I can sense it. I'll be circulating a bit of my power through his body to keep it sustained, don't worry," he said looking back at her.

"It's nice to hear myself being talked about like a piece of baggage," Neji said with a hint of irritation.

The stranger laughed. "At least you still have some humor left. We had better be going though. Grab hands and one of you take one of my hands, otherwise you'll be left behind when I leave."

He walked over to Neji's side and gently took the boy's hand. At his touch, just as the man said, Neji felt a strange power flow right into his body and it brought strength back to him, but only a little bit. Naruto took the outside and made Sakura take the stranger's hand so she would be in the middle and a bit more protected if they were instantly attacked at their destination. Gai took Neji's other side. Without questioning them to see if they were ready, the man disappeared, taking the other 4 with him.

"So what do we do now?" Tenten asked quietly.

"Hope we didn't send them to their death," Tsunade answered.

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grrrr it's not really a cliffie this time Y-Y and i like putting cliffie's too Y-Y woohoo bedtime XDD


	9. Chapter 9

wellll...small update but hey...it's an update lmao be glad...do the happy dance that's how glad u should be...dance fool!! j/k roflmao

dis: sigh...managing 3 in-progress stories is good enough for me...me don't wanna own naruto right now lmao

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It felt as if their whole entire body was being stretched. Naruto's body was popping and he felt that if anything pushed on his hand that was holding Sakura's, that he would be separated from the group. All three of them felt like this, but to Neji, it was a normal pain except he felt like he was being enlarged, not shrinking. After what felt like 10 minutes, their feet landed on solid ground. Naruto, Gai, and Sakura nearly fell on their faces, but caught themselves. Neji's body though, completely gave out and he fell unconscious. Sakura tried to get over to him, but her body screamed at her. The stranger knelt calmly beside the Hyuuga and placed his hand on the boy's back. After a few seconds, he removed his hand and they all could see his breathing was normal.

"I had to give his body more power than I anticipated. Many normally don't last as much stress as his body has."

The man looked up and they all saw his face darken. When they looked around, they didn't see why.

"Where exactly are we?" Gai asked.

"In my home that I have been absent from for some years now and it seems that I should've come back sooner." He picked up Neji bridal style and started walking. "Follow me."

The three painfully got up and limped after him.

"Now I know what Neji and Kakashi-sensei go through," Naruto mumbled.

The man continued walking silently past closed doors and strange artworks. When he came to a set of double doors, he paused and looked at the other three. "Don't follow me past these doors. I will confront my sister alone."

"Your sister?!" Naruto and Sakura gasped.

"Yes, our parents spoiled her then left her with me." With that, he opened the doors and walked in, still carrying Neji, and closed the doors behind him.

Inside was a large room that had all kinds of colors. In the middle were many comfortable chairs and couches all in a circle. Sitting in a deep green one with her back to him was his sister and the one that had changed Neji and Kakashi.

"You've been busy, little sister," he hissed menacingly.

She whirled around fast with a smile on her face, but that smile froze at the sight of Neji unconscious in his arms. His deathly white skin making his long hair appear coal black in the light.

"What have you done to him brother?"

"I've been trying to keep him alive all this night. You are the one who's been killing him. You and your selfishness." His voice was a growling whisper.

The woman shrank in her seat.

"I thought we talked about this, little sister. I thought you agreed to never do this to another human as long as you lived safely in my house."

"But I was lonely while you were gone," she whispered.

"Where are all the others?"

She just stared at him.

"Sister," he growled.

She shrank lower in her chair. "The forest room."

"And what did you use to change them?"

She didn't answer.

His anger deepened. "You better have used a medium to filter our powers before you forced it into the human's body."

She just sat there, starting to tremble.

His face was livid. "We will discuss this later, but right now, you are staying right here until I have returned every last one of them to their homes. Is that clear?"

He didn't wait for an answer but left. Once outside in the hall again he rounded on the door and mumbled a few incomprehensible words and the door changed to look exactly like the wall. The 3 shinobis saw the anger on his face and remained quiet. He rounded on them.

"Follow me."

The stayed a ways behind him. After a few more minutes of walking he stopped at a set of double doors that were steel with some strange encryptions drawn on them. He mumbled a few words and the doors opened. They all walked inside and the shinobi stopped dead in their tracks. There were all kinds of animals everywhere.

"I wish to speak with the eldest of you," the man said loudly.

A large grizzly bear stepped forward and sat not far off from them.

"I have learned of the doings of my sister," he spat out sister like it was venom, "and I will deal with her harshly." He said the last with an evil smirk. "You will be changed back if you wish, but before I change you back, is there another among you who is a ninja?"

They all saw the animals look at each other sadly and the bear's head drooped a little as he stood up and started walking. They followed and Gai took off his vest to drape over Kakashi. An opening like a cave appeared ahead and as they walked out trees instantly surrounded them. The bear didn't stop. He walked straight into the heart of the forest. Naruto heard the sound of a small waterfall before he saw it and lying near its base was Kakashi, yet he was barely breathing. Gai gave Sakura his vest as she rushed forward to check his pulse. She draped the material over her sensei's body and grabbed his wrist. His heart was weak and erratic and his body was cool to the touch. The stranger came up and laid Neji beside him. As he pulled away, Neji's breathing started to shallow and Sakura checked his pulse. His heart was starting to weaken. She applied some charka to their hearts, but when she stopped the supply, their conditions returned to the way they were.

She looked up at the stranger, "There's nothing I can do." Tears started to edge into her eyes.

He looked down at the dying men and sighed. "I don't know if I can do much either. It is not the curse that is causing their body conditions right now. It is just that their bodies are quitting."

Neji took a deep breath then let it out in a gasp and his chest didn't rise again.

"No." Sakura leaned forward and listened to his heart. Nothing. She started CPR with some charka to try and get his heart going, but nothing happened. "No, this can't happen. He didn't do anything wrong to deserve this," she gasped.

The stranger knelt down next to Kakashi and started mumbling chants under his breath as he placed a leaf and his hand on Kakashi's chest. After a few seconds a bright light flowed out of Kakashi's body and took the form of a cat above him before disappearing. Kakashi's breathing and heart rate remained the same. He sighed and looked at Sakura still trying to bring Neji back to life.

"Is there anything I can do Sakura?" Naruto asked, the restricted anger evident in his voice.

Sakura sat back on her heels slowly; tears were silently streaming down her face. "No. He's gone."

* * *

**:evil laugh: **don't u luv me for ending the chappie there...that's mainly why this chappie is so short...because i LUVD this ending for a chappie ending roflmao...now do the dance of evil author!! **:evil cackle:**


	10. Chapter 10

ooookkkkk...almost done with this story...to put it simply i have it all typed up...wasting studying time but o well...procrastination is fun lol...i'm still debating on wether or not i should jus post the rest or wait a few days then do that...dunno lol...i think i'll wait a few days...but since i have this all done i can now concentrate on teh other two...after my tests lol

dis: ummm...yea...screw it jus read the damn chapter lol

* * *

The stranger leaned over and placed his hand on Neji's chest. There was no sign of life and the organs were starting to shut down with the lack of oxygen. He started to circulate his power into Neji's body without filtering it. A faint beat met his efforts, but his chest still didn't rise.

"Girl, he needs air."

Sakura leaned forward, hesitated for less than a second then breathed into his mouth while pinching his nose shut. The man felt the heart beat strengthen a little, but not much.

"Continue doing what you were doing a little while ago," the stranger commanded as he grabbed a flower that had closed for the night.

He placed that on Neji's chest and took his hand off of him and held it directly over the flower. They could see a faint light going right towards the flower as Sakura started pressing on Neji's chest again. The stranger's face creased as he started to force more and more of his power through the flower into Neji's body. He felt Neji's heart start to weaken again and forced even more of his power into the boy's body.

'If I put even more in, it would be too dangerous to his body,' he thought to himself.

Sakura paused and breathed into Neji's mouth again. As the air was forced into the boy's lungs, the stranger forced nearly all the Hyuuga's chest muscles to contract and Neji's body arched. He then forced the other muscles to contract releasing whatever air there was in the lungs. He repeated the process a few more times. As Naruto and Gai watched, they saw perspiration form on the stranger's head and his hands start to tremble. The man sensed Neji's heart grow a little stronger and he let up a little on his power. The heart was pulsing occasionally, but it still required his help. He then lessened the amount of power forcing the lung muscles to work, and they weakly rose and fell like they should.

He remained over Neji's body like this for a good 5 minutes before he could actually stop putting his power into Neji's body. The man sat back and looked a little tiredly at the barely breathing boy.

"You brought him back to life," Naruto whispered.

The man shook his head. "I only got his organs to work again, I don't know if there is any brain damage. He was out for a while so he might not be able to remember some stuff if he does wake up at all."

The bear made a growl like howl. The all looked at him and saw that all the animals had surrounded them. The bear made its sound again, but it wasn't in a congratulatory manner. The hawk then took flight and landed on a small branch that revealed the sky. It was starting to get light.

The stranger's eyes widened. He then picked up a rock smoothed by the water current and replaced the flower on Neji's chest then went back to muttering chants under his breath. The shinobis saw a twitch in Neji's body. The man's chants increased. Neji's back arched.

"He's not going to make it," Sakura whimpered.

The man said the last part loudly and a large amount of his power shot from his hands, through the rock, and into Neji's body. A light came out of Neji's body and took the shape of a cat above him then disappeared as well. Neji's body relaxed and the stranger sat back once again, but this time weakly.

"I haven't used that much power in one night in a long time."

Kakashi opened his eyes slowly. A bright light was flowing in from somewhere off to his left, but his head was too heavy to move. He slowly blinked and then closed his eyes again, enjoying the cool breeze that played across his face. There was a noise that broke through the normal sounds, but it was faint so he ignored it. A few seconds later it disturbed the peace again, but he still ignored it. It sounded again and the voice seemed familiar. Slowly, he opened his eyes and saw a girl with pink hair hovering over his face. Her mouth moved and the sound came from her, yet he couldn't exactly tell what she was saying. Her blurry face scrunched up with worry and she said something again. He started to discern the sounds, but sleep was starting to envelop him again and he willingly fell into its embrace.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura said louder this time as his eyes closed again. She felt his pulse and found that it was still normal, much to her relief.

She looked over at Neji lying beside him. The stranger's words reverberated in her mind as she looked on at his weak breathing. His heart had never strengthened ever since he brought Neji back to life. Sakura sighed and looked over at Naruto. He was sound asleep leaning against the bear's side. The bear calmly looked back at her and his look alone told her that everything was all right at this moment. Sakura then looked at the midday sun shining through the treetops. Gai had gone off with the stranger to help him change the others back into their human form. A few of the partially clothed men had come and checked up on Kakashi, but soon the stranger came and took them off to their home. She leaned back against the small boulder beside the waterfall and continued to keep a close eye on her wards.

Gai ambled back to the others. The stranger had stopped for a while because his power was starting to get low and he was tired. Over all, they were able to change 10 men back into normal and return them to their homes. The waterfall's sound reached his ears and he stepped quietly into the clearing to see Naruto and Sakura on guard and staring at him. When they realized at was him they relaxed and sat back again. The bear was still there watching over them with Naruto leaning against him.

"Has there been any change?" Gai asked.

"Kakashi-sensei opened his eyes there for a few seconds, but Neji's still the same," Sakura replied.

"When did Kakashi open his eyes?" Gai inquired.

"An hour ago," Sakura mumbled.

Gai sat down with his back against a tree trunk.

"How many were changed back?" Naruto asked.

"10"

"Just ten?" the boy continued.

Gai nodded. "It took a lot out of that man every time he took the changed men to their homes, even if he took a group to the same location."

"Who are they?" Sakura asked.

Gai shook his head. "I honestly don't know." He looked at the bear. "Do you have any idea?"

The bear sat there then shook his head no as well.

They all sat in silence. The only sound that was really heard from them was the deep breathing of their fellow bear, Kakashi's deep breathing, and Neji's weak intakes.

After a few minutes Gai asked, "How long do you think it'll take before we can return to Konoha?"

Sakura looked at the 2 unconscious men then shook her head. "I honestly don't know. With Kakashi-sensei it might take him a week or two to recover enough to return the way we got here, but I don't want to put Neji-san's body through any more stress for a while. Especially if he doesn't wake up here soon."

"So we're going to be stuck here no matter what, huh?" Naruto stated.

"Yes," the kunoichi replied.

Tsunade sat solemnly behind her desk. Gai and the others have been gone for a little over a week and rumors had been spreading like wildfire no matter how hard she tried to quell them. With Kakashi and Neji still gone, it didn't help the rumors of something happening to the other 3 at all.

She sighed and stood up. "Shizune!"

The younger kunoichi came in.

"I'm going out for some air, don't send any one after me unless it's urgent."

"Ok, hokage-sama," the other woman replied.

On her walk around the village she ran into the few left that knew the truth behind the rumors. They exchanged a look, but Tsunade shook her head meaning that the others still haven't returned. Those that inquired sighed and went back to whatever they were doing. Answering these gloomy questions just added more to her restlessness. It still irritated her that she could do nothing but sit by and watch Neji deteriorate with each change.

She let out and irritated sigh and jumped off for the training grounds to try and relieve some of her anger.

* * *

u thought i was goin to kill neji didn't u huh? i won't be that mean...unless i wanted this to be a gloomier story lol...yea i kno...it ain't a nice upbeat every once n a while...ain't my fault...i write these kind of stories better than comedies...sadly Y-Y


	11. Chapter 11

ok i said screw it and decided to upload this chappie...i kno...u luv me for that huh? j/k lol

dis:swings pocket watch back and forth: u want to read this...u will read this...u will no longer ask on disclaimers from me

* * *

Kakashi slowly stood up and walked back towards the cave. He had been awake for 3 days now, but he still got exhausted easily. Sakura tried to make him stay in bed, but that only made him more tired, so, whenever he got the chance he wandered back to this forest. All but 5 of the animals had been changed. Four of these were people who had nothing to go back to and didn't mind being an animal, so the stranger exchanged the spell on them for a spell that didn't put as much stress on the body. The fifth one was the bear. The stranger had said that Grunge didn't remember much of his past and was comfortable with the way things were now.

At the cave entrance, Grunge was laying in the sun dozing lightly. At Kakashi's approach he looked up and Kakashi saw his bearish smile. The jounin smiled tiredly and slowly sat down by the bear. Grunge looked over and noticed that Kakashi was half asleep as it was. The bear shifted and pulled Kakashi next to him. Like normal, he tensed up at the close contact, but Grunge's foresty scent overwhelmed him and started to lull him to sleep. He shifted so he was lying comfortably against the bear's soft side and fell asleep. Grunge knew of the ninjas pride about being caught sleeping so whenever one of his Konoha comrades came near, Grunge woke Kakashi up. The only two-legged that he didn't wake Kakashi up for was Byrn, or the stranger as the ninjas called him. Byrn always smiled slightly at the sight of the man sleeping against the bear, but let him rest because he needed it.

"Is there any change?"

Sakura looked up at Naruto. "No, he's still the same."

They both looked down at Neji. Kakashi had been awake for these past three days, and even moving around, much to Sakura's annoyance, but Neji's heart remained weak, and his breathing still slightly shallow.

"Do you think he'll ever wake up?" Naruto asked quietly.

Sakura shrugged. Anger and helplessness filled Naruto as he looked down at the older boy. He had been through everything else and was taught how to handle all kinds of situations, but waiting for a friend to wake up was never his strong point. It wasn't when Sasuke was unconscious the time Itachi had used the Mangekyo upon him, and it certainly wasn't any stronger all these years later.

"Has he moved any at least?" the blonde asked.

"A little, but not much."

"Why don't you go get some sleep? I'll stay here and keep an eye on him for a couple hours and if there's any change, I'll come get you."

Sakura smiled tiredly, "Thanks, that's actually what I've been needing." She got up and Naruto took her place sitting near Neji.

"Gai-san!"

Gai turned around and saw the stranger walking towards him. "Good afternoon!"

The stranger smiled. "It is a good afternoon, isn't it? Is there any change in your boy?"

"I was just about to go check on that. Care to join me?"

"I'd be glad to."

Gai grinned brightly and started walking again.

"I know you'd like to know this. I've decided on what I'm going to do with my sister."

"Oh really? And what might your plan be?"

"Well, since she's-."

"Gai-sensei!"

They both looked up to see a worn out Sakura walking towards them.

"Ah! Hello Sakura! How's our young Neji?"

She sighed as she stopped in front of them. "Still the same. I don't understand why his heart isn't getting any stronger."

"Our powers have a harsh effect on human bodies if it isn't filtered through and inanimate object," the stranger said.

"So it would seem. I was just about to go catch some sleep. Naruto volunteered to watch over Neji for me."

"Then we'll go join him," Gai said loudly.

The stranger smiled and looked once again at the kunoichi. "How is Kakashi-san?"

Sakura's jaw clenched. "That moron won't stay lying down, no matter what I say."

Gai laughed. "My rival never was a patient person when it comes to resting."

"Sadly," Sakura replied a little angrily.

"Sakura-chan!"

They turned to see Naruto running towards them.

"Neji's waking up!"

"And why aren't you with him?!" she yelled while running back to Neji.

"I am!" Naruto shouted back and disappeared. It was one of his shadow clones that had delivered the message.

They rounded the bend in the cave wall and Naruto looked up. He was crouched near the Hyuuga's side. Sakura dropped down quickly next to them. Neji's partially opened eyes slowly rested on her.

"Neji, can you hear me?" she asked calmly.

The older boy's mouth opened and a faint "hai" escaped.

Sakura sighed and sat back in relief. A rock skidded not far off and they looked up to see both Grunge and Kakashi walking towards them. The bear stopped not far off, but Kakashi walked right up to Neji's side and crouched down.

"Morning," Kakashi said with a small smile.

Neji smiled, weakly.

"Tsunade-sama, what are you going to do about all these rumors?" Tenten asked.

Tsunade sighed. "There's really not much I can do without revealing what had happened to Kakashi and Neji."

"Do you think Gai-sensei and the others are all right?" Lee asked her.

She sighed again. These questions were really starting to irritate her again, but once again the small group that knew of the predicament and came together at the training grounds, and once again she was bombarded with these same questions. "I don't know Lee. I don't know anything since they left a month ago."

"Has it really been that long?"

Everyone turned to see a smiling Naruto, Sakura, and Gai.

"You're alright! But, where are Kakashi, Neji, and that stranger?" Tsunade asked with worry.

"They should be coming any minute now," Sakura replied with a smile. "And, they're back to normal," her smile faltered, "but I'm not sure if they will ever be able to handle missions again."

Tsunade's brow creased with worry. "What do you mean, Sakura?"

The other kunoichi sighed and they saw exhaustion cover her face. "Both of their hearts are still weak; especially Neji's. He was dead for a little over a minute in the beginning."

"What?!" Tenten whispered.

The stranger returned out of thin air with Neji, Kakashi, and a large brown bear. Everyone looked at the two jounins. Both were pale with exhaustion. The man, Byrn, never let go of either of the two's hands until the bear had maneuvered himself between Kakashi and Neji. The two jounins then leaned on the bear for support. Tsunade quickly rushed forward and checked Kakashi's heart rate then Neji's. It was just as Sakura's said; both of their hearts wouldn't be able to handle even jogging around the village twice without trying to fail countless times.

"If you would permit it," Byrn started, "I would like Grunge here to stay with your boys. He has no other place to go anyways and he would be bored back at my place."

Tsunade looked at the man emotionlessly. "Who's Grunge?"

The bear made a sound. Tsunade looked down into the small chocolate eyes.

"Tsunade-sama, he helped me out when I needed it, and he's helped both Neji and me after we were changed back. It's the least we could do in return," Kakashi quietly added.

The Godaime looked into Neji's worn out face, but he only stared back, half asleep. She then looked back down at the bear. "Well then, Grunge, do you promise to not cause too much trouble?"

The bear nodded.

Tsunade sighed. "Then I guess you can stay; as long as you help out both Kakashi and Neji."

The bear nodded again.

The older woman looked at Neji. "How much can you see?"

Neji looked at her and she saw his throat move, but no sound came out. He looked tiredly at Kakashi.

"He can see normally, as far as we can tell," Kakashi answered.

Tsunade looked back at the Hyuuga. "Can you speak?"

Neji swallowed then whispered, "Hai, but it makes me tired quickly."

Tsunade's brow creased again. "How long has it been since the curse was taken off?"

"It's been a month," Byrn answered.

"And you both are this exhausted still?!" Tsunade exclaimed.

Kakashi and Neji just stared tiredly back at her.

"Neji-niisan, we better get you home so you can lie down," Hinata said quietly from behind Tsunade.

Neji just blinked slowly and swayed a little more.

"I'll help you Hinata," Tenten said.

Both girls walked over and grabbed either of Neji's arms and draped them across their shoulders and started off towards Hinata's dad's house.

"I'll help you get to your home, Kakashi," Gai said while gently shifting Kakashi's weight from Grunge to around his shoulders.

Tsunade watched both groups go and was about to leave herself when the bear made a noise. She turned and looked at it. "I'll ask Hiashi-sama if you can stay with Neji, since he's the one in the worst condition. Until he says you can, you'll have to stay in the forest around the village."

The bear nodded and turned towards the trees. Slowly the group disintegrated and Tsunade was left with the stranger.

She looked at him. "Thank you, for helping us."

He smiled at her. "No, there's no need for thanks. My sister caused all this and it's usually me who has the power to change everything back."

"Your sister?!"

He nodded angrily. "And she'll regret breaking her promise to me. Don't worry, I'll make sure she leaves humans alone again."

Tsunade suppressed a shiver at the look that had covered his face now. "I know she won't be a problem now that you're going to take care of her."

Byrn smirked and turned to leave, but then stopped. "One more thing. I doubt either of those two will be able to ask you this so I'll ask it for them. The one that saved them right after they changed…"

Tsunade smiled sadly. "I understand. I just hope that they'll survive the week, let alone a month. Their hearts are so weak that they could die any minute, no matter how much rest they get."

Byrn nodded. "The stress our un-filtered powers have on human bodies is great, but if they survive 3 months, there's a good chance that they'll live a few more years. I'm not sure if they'll be able to be strong enough to do any ninja stuff anymore though."

Tsunade nodded sadly. "It's a shame, especially since they're in their prime right now."

Sayuri walked slowly down yet another alleyway. It had been nearly half a year since the ninjas had left, and there was no news about any of them.

'Maybe they just forgot all about me like ninjas normally do with common folk,' she thought.

Trashcans banging together scared her out of her thoughts. She looked up and saw a litter of kittens playing with each other around them. Among the group were a black and a white kitten. She smiled and watched the little family wrestle with each other. A thought came across her mind of catching a couple and taking them home, but she just shrugged it off. Her house was back to being empty and quiet without the two boys, even if they were only with her for a little over a week. She had grown so used to the company, enjoying it so much, that it felt like she lost part of her family all over again when they left. Her eyes wandered back to the little group still playing together. The black pounced on his white sibling and pinned him down. Sayuri chuckled.

"You can't be comparing those two to us, can you?"

She swung around and saw both Kakashi and Neji standing a little ways away, smiling.

"I think she was comparing those kittens to us because I always won," Neji said.

Kakashi laughed. "Yeah, at getting the pillow."

Sayuri burst out laughing and after a few seconds she felt moisture on her cheeks. Neji and Kakashi walked forward and stood in front of her, worried.

"You didn't send me any word that you were all right," she sobbed.

The two boys exchanged glances then took her hands in theirs.

"We're sorry, Sayuri-san. We were really sick," Kakashi said quietly.

She clenched their hands and smiled. "At least you're better now."

"And here," Neji whispered.

She laughed and continued crying some more. Neji and Kakashi stayed there and comforted her as best as they could. Sayuri felt the warmth coming from their bodies and knew that this wasn't a dream.

* * *

OWARI...or is it??

give it up for a long chappie lol

yup...last chappie ladies and gents...there will no longer be any more updates for this luvly story...DOMO ARIGATOU GOZAIMASU for reading this and staying with it and a large pan of homemade fudge for those who have/and will fav this story...10 double chocolate chip cookies for those who put this story on their alert list only...a king size reeses for those who only reveiwed...a hershey's bar for those who only read this and didn't review/fav this...if u reviewed, alerted, and faved this...u get all the above mentioned goodies plus some :grins broadly:

ok...last question for u luvly readers...sequel?? yes?? no?? maybe so??...if u want a sequel...won't garuantee it till christmas break...there's ur warning lol


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